Nec Asspera Torrent
by Kouseki-Tsukimono
Summary: Best friends and sisters in all but blood Ku-chan and Kuko-chan have overcome many tragedies and obstacles, together they have learned to live laugh and love. But when secrets are discovered and their destinies diverge, what will they do? Slow burner SasoXOC KakaXOC
1. Prologue

**Okay, first things first, No, I don't own Naruto, if I did I'd be a blubbering mess on the floor 'cos of all the awesome characters killed off.**

 **Pairings: SasoriXOC, KakashiXOC**

 **As it stands these are the only definite pairings, others are open to request but Kuko-chan has final say, 'cos she deals with that sort of things and I bow to her will.**

 **Also, apologies to anyone following me and hoping for an update on one of my other stories, but we found a plot bunny and couldn't leave it out in the rain. *Looks at the rain pouring down out the window* How I love British weather…**

 **Well on we go, enjoy.**

 **This is un-beta'd so please excess the odd error that might sneak past my spellcheck, let me know and I can fix it.**

 **Warning: Death pretty early on**

Nec Asspera Torrent

Prologue 

A light dusting of snow shines silver in the moonlight, a slight breeze sending small drifts of fluttering to the ground from rooftops. A pair of serpents slither along the streets, barely discernible from the shadows they pass through. Their tongues flick out, tasting the air for the scent of their prey, following it to a small 2-storey house at the edge of the village.

The serpents slip through a slightly open window, following the trail towards the stairs. A pair of kunai fly through the air impaling the bodies and fixing them to the floor. A young man appears in a swirl of leaves, a kunai in each hand, short black hair spiking in all directions from sleep.

"Akane, get Miku and run." Upstairs, a young woman with shoulder length, brown hair and silver eyes runs into the next room, rousing the five year old girl from her bed, giving her a long coat and a pair of shoes, opening the wide window across the room.

"What's going on Okaa-san?" A pair of slightly darker grey eyes blink tiredly through curtains of tangled blue-black hair, a yawn following the girl's question.

"Don't worry, Miku, everything will be fine, we just need to leave now." Akane gathered her daughter into her arms and jumped through the window, into the garden below. Ten large snakes rose around her, hissing threateningly.

A yell from the house makes Miku glance over her mother's shoulder to see a strange man with long black hair pulling his arm away from her father, snakes hanging from his sleeve with blood on their fangs. Akane jumps up to the high garden wall just as Tadao falls unmoving to the ground.

Wasting no time, she leaps on to the surrounding tree's branches, heading towards the centre of the village. Another serpent wraps around the woman's leg, pulling her back and dislodging the child from her grasp. Miku released a terrified shriek, desperately grabbing onto the nearest branch to prevent a harsh meeting with the ground. She glanced back to see her mother fighting off more snakes, the man who had killed her father slowly approaching.

"Run, Miku. Don't look back." The child hoisted herself up onto her branch and hesitated, taking one last look at her, now sole, parent before fleeing, sprinting through the treetops and swinging from higher branches to cross wider gaps which she couldn't jump.

All night the raven haired child fled, unfallen tears obscuring her vision, terror and grief clouding her mind as she kept running, inadvertently getting ever further from the village, her ever growing fatigue laying unnoticed in the back of her mind, though its subconscious effect eventually forced her to ground level. As dawn finally began to break over the forests of Fire Country, Miku's seemingly limitless energy abruptly ran out as she collided with something, knocking herself out with the force.

"Ow…" Correction, she collided with someone.

Dark, mahogany eyes blink up at the sky confusedly as their owner tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"What? No apology? You just knock someone to the ground and leave them there? You'd better not be laughing right now…" The pissed off girl, a couple of years older than Miku, rose, long dark brown hair in almost as bad a state as Miku's falling around her in hectic waves.

"Of course. Run into me and knock yourself out…" With a huff the girl settled down to wait, amusing herself by continually poking Miku's forehead in the hope it might make her wake up quicker.

She eventually realised this hope was in vain and decided her time would be better spent napping, so she dragged the unconscious Miku into a well hidden spot among the bushes and joined her in dreamland.

*o*o*o*

The sun was nearing its peak by the time Miku finally woke up, staring vacantly through the undergrowth as she tried to remember where she was. The night's events came rushing back and the tears she had been too shocked to shed before, fall in rivers down her face. She gradually became aware of a pair of arms holding her in an awkward hug and a girl's voice mumbling in a somewhat soothing tone. The other girl noticed her slowing tears and gradual calming down and shuffled back a bit.

"Are you kind of okay now? I mean, you're obviously not okay, okay but are you a bit better? Enough that we can talk at least?" Miku giggled a little at the awkward babble, quickly drying her tears on her sleeve and nodded.

"Yeah, um, my name's Miku. I'm from Konoha, which should be around here somewhere…" The raven haired girl took a proper look around to realise she didn't even know which way she'd come from.

"Nice to meet you Miku-chan. I'm Fukuko and I'm so glad you sort of know where we are, I've been lost for a week surviving only on berries and nuts, it's seriously not healthy, a growing girl needs meat! But if you're not really sure exactly where we are, do you think you could climb a tree and find out where Konoha is? 'Cause I'm not the best at climbing and I wouldn't know what I'm looking for anyway…"

Miku slapped a hand over the babbling girl's mouth and simply nodded before scrambling up the nearest trunk and disappearing up through the branches. It wasn't long before she dropped back down, a few extra twigs tangled in her mess of blue-black hair.

"That way." She pointed in a vaguely South West-ish direction, grabbed Fukuko's arm and started pulling her along, the way she'd pointed.

"Soooo… Why were you crying back there?" Wide, inquisitive brown eyes blink innocently at Miku as she froze at the question, dropping the other girl's arm.

"A bad man attacked my parents. I don't think they're coming home." New tears blurred her vision but didn't fall and she quickly resumed walking. Fukuko took advantage of her longer legs and easily caught up.

"It'll be okay Miku-chan, my parents didn't come home but we've got each other now and we can become really strong kunoichi together so we can always come home, 'kay?" Miku smiled slightly and nodded before hoisting herself onto the lowest branches of the surrounding trees and walking along them instead of on the ground.

"Hey, no fair. I already told you I'm not good at climbing." Fukuko pouted then jogged to keep up with the younger girl who was much faster in the trees than on the ground.

"Don't worry, 'Kuko-chan, I just need to make sure we're going the right way. How did you end up wandering out here for a week anyway?"

"I thought you were meant to ask before suddenly giving me a nickname, not that I mind it, but that's beside the point." She pouted against the laughter from the tree over her head, grumbling a little to herself before answering the question.

"Some bad men caught me and dragged me all over the place but I was smarted than them and escaped at night, all sneaky-like but I didn't really know where I was so I hid until sure they wouldn't be near and picked a direction and hoped I'd find someone at some point."

"You should learn to climb, then you'd be able to find people quicker." The ground-walker glared into the trees at the smug tone of her companion.

The pair kept a decent pace and managed to reach Konoha's gates by the time the sun was half set, though both were more than ready to collapse into bed and sleep for twelve hours. Miku came to a rather abrupt halt as she ran headlong into a tall figure with short, spiky, brown hair, dressed in the standard Jōnin uniform, their arms swiftly catching her before she toppled from the branches.

"Miku-chan, we've been looking for you, where did you go?"

"Okaa-san told me to run when the bad man came. Are Okaa-san and Otou-san coming home, Morikawa-san?" The sad look on his face said enough, and Miku's tears fell once more, though silently this time, her mind already having, at least somewhat, acknowledged her loss.

The silence was broken by the rustling of leaves and loud grumbling.

"Miku-chan, why'd you stop? Aren't we nearly there? Umm…" Fukuko cut off at the sight of the, to her, unknown shinobi.

"It's ok, 'Kuko-chan, this is Morikawa-san. He looked after me sometimes when my parents had missions. Morikawa-san, this is Fukuko-chan. She was lost in the forest and is coming home with me." Fukuko gave a smile and a wave at the introduction, receiving a quiet greeting in return.

"Come on then, you two, you both look ready to drop, though Hokage-sama will need to talk to you tomorrow, Miku-chan." Miku nodded, stifling a yawn and followed Morikawa through the trees, helping Fukuko keep her balance as the other girl grumbled her way along with them.

Once within the village, the trio dropped to the streets, the two girls stumbling forward on autopilot. Morikawa swiftly guided them to the younger girl's house, watching amusedly as them both collapsed into Miku's bed snuggling together automatically to prevent either falling off. The Jōnin smiled at the sight and hopped out of the window, closing it behind him before reporting back to the Hokage.

*o*o*o*

A tall figure with long, black hair and serpentine yellow eyes slipped into the dark room where Miku and Fukuko lay sleeping, hands quickly flashing through a series of hand seals. The last sign completed, he lay his hand on Miku's head with a whispered "Kioku Fū no Jutsu*". As silently as the man had appeared, he vanished, with no trace of his presence left behind.

*o*o*o*

The next morning, Miku had a sharp wakeup call in the form of a fist to the face and a sudden meeting with the ground. She blinked confusedly, until the events of the previous day returned, explaining the other girl who had just punched her out of her own bed. With a growl, the younger girl yanked the duvet off Fukuko, letting the cold morning air attack the older girl. Fukuko huddled into a ball with a whine, one eye peeking open to half-glare at the fiend who stole her warmth, but too tired to put any heat behind it.

"Come on, 'Kuko-chan. It's morning now." The older girl whined again, curling in tighter, desperately trying to stay asleep, but she eventually gave in to the relentless poking of a bony finger.

"Wha' time 's it, 'Ku-chan?" A jaw cracking yawn followed the question as she blinked blearily at Miku.

"Six o'clock." Miku smiled slightly at the proper glare Fukuko managed to muster. The brunette grudgingly got off the bed and shuffled towards the kitchen to hunt down some tea.

Half an hour and one pot of caffeinated goodness later, Fukuko was more awake and less likely to murder everyone in sight. Morikawa slipped in through a window, carrying a gift of breakfast.

"I come bearing miso soup and Oyakodon**, who's hungry?" The man would later swear that 'Kuko had a Jōnin's speed when she stole the food out of his hands, and Miku used the distraction to sneakily grab her own before the Jōnin could use his height to torment her. Morikawa shook his head and sat down with his portion, fending off invading chopsticks with practised ease.

After breakfast, Morikawa took the girls shopping (a decision his wallet would later hate him for), as Fukuko had naught but the clothes on her back. It was nearing midday when the shopping fiend brunette finally decided she had enough, and the trio finally headed to the administrative division of the Academy. The crowd of people within left both girls hiding behind Morikawa, though Fukuko soon overcame her nervousness and started to bounce around, chatting to everyone who stayed still for even a second. The other two shared a despairing look and left her to it while they waited for the Hokage to see them.

When they were called, Morikawa dragged Fukuko away from the Mission Assignment Desk where she had been bombarding one of the Chūnin on duty with questions, much to the amusement of everyone else.

"Hokage-sama." The three bowed in greeting, though it was only through Miku covering her mouth that Fukuko didn't bombard the man with inquiries.

"Tamotsu, I'm surprised it took you so long." The Hokage glanced inquiringly at the Jōnin, who shuffled awkwardly, remembering his powerlessness in stopping the shopping fiend.

"It was 'Kuko-chan's fault, she bought a lot." Miku peeked her head around Fukuko as she spoke quietly, maintaining her duty of silencing the babble-mouth.

"Ah, so you must be Miku-chan, and your friend would be 'Kuko-chan?" Fukuko nodded enthusiastically, unintentionally dislodging Miku's hand, but she took full advantage of the opportunity.

"Yep, I'm Fukuko. This a really nice office, though it seems you have a paperwork demon in residence and that's an awesome looking hat, can I try it on, please-" Morikawa hastily took over Miku's job off silencing Fukuko, while the Sandaime laughed at her exuberance.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both. Now, I'm sorry to have to drag up bad memories, Miku-chan, but I need to know what happened two nights ago. What can you tell me about the bad man that came to your house?" The small smile that Miku had worn at her friend's actions rapidly fell as tears gathered in her eyes once more.

"Okaasan woke me up and carried me out the window but she got caught and otousan wasn't moving and she told me to run but I don't remember much. I think I saw the bad man but I can't remember anything. Why can't I remember…?" The Hokage gently patted the girl on the shoulder while her friend slipped out of Morikawa's hold to give her a hug.

"It's ok, Miku. Now, we'll need to sort out where you'll be living from now on-" Before the Hokage could get any further, Fukuko butted in.

"We're gonna stay together in Miku-chan's house so we can become strong together and Miku-chan can teach me to climb better." Morikawa shook his head at her outburst, though spoke up when he saw the agreement in Miku's eyes.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye out whenever I can, though I already know Miku-chan can take care of herself fairly well." The Sandaime hummed, looking into the determined faces staring at him, eventually nodding in agreement as he recognised the stubbornness in their eyes. Besides, he knew that any friend of Miku's parents would look in on the pair on occasion without being asked.

With business taken care off, the trio were dismissed and the girls headed home, Miku claiming the kitchen to make lunch, not accepting any other presence within the room while she cooked. Over lunch the pair made their plans for joining the Academy in April, feeding off each other's enthusiasm and determination to move on past their losses.

*o*o*o*

*Memory Seal

**Chicken and eggs on rice

The title translates to 'Difficulties be Damned'

 **So there we are have a prologue, far longer than originally expected but... Meh. Please leave a review, they feed the muse. As a side-note this is currently set 6 years before the Kyuubi attack so I apologise in advance for the numerous OCs that will pop up in the early story but besides the mains none of them are overly important so don't worry too much.**

 **Also, a word to the wise, don't try and watch the whole of Naruto in one go, that's what I've done, and seriously, to watch so much gets you far too attached to the characters, 'cos I'll tell you now I don't really cry at anything in books/manga/films/tv/anime but some of the deaths in Naruto have had me in floods. So, yes, watching it all in one is a baaad idea.**

 **As always reviewers get cookies, and I plan to chuck out an update every month, it is currently the 7th so the 7th of each month is update day, feel free to complain should I miss it without a very good reason.**

 **Your Cat-cuddling author**

 **Kouseki**


	2. Of Academy Days Part 1

**See, precisely on time, here's a chapter.**

 **And I'll leave babble for the end, so enjoy.**

 _ **Chapter 1 - Of Academy Days - Part 1**_

A pair of girls giggled quietly in the back corner of a classroom as they heard an enraged scream echo over the village.

"Ne, 'Ku-chan, which do you think they set off? The garlic shower on the bookshop? Or the paint bombs outside Training Ground Seven?" The brunette's grin widened as she imagined the potential results of their traps.

"No, too angry for those. It's the pink paint and glitter between the Uchiha and the Hyūga compounds." The younger of the pair gave a small smile, a glint of devious cunning shining in her eyes.

Their teacher turned from where he was writing on the blackboard to find the source of the whispering and narrowed his eyes when he saw none. Miku was diligently taking notes, turning innocent, curious eyes to the teacher when he remained paused for too long, while Fukuko stared boredly out of the window, absently doodling around the edges of her paper.

When the class was let out for lunch, the pair grabbed their bento boxes and ran out, scrambling up the largest tree in the academy grounds. They had constructed a small, well-hidden platform among the highest branches where they always came for lunch, after Miku had taught her friend to climb better. Fukuko got out a pair of binoculars, quickly focusing on the site of their trap and following the trail of neon pink footprints.

"Oh, high five 'Ku-chan, we got ourselves an Uchiha!" Miku gave her friend the high-five, nabbing the binoculars to confirm her friend's comment, and sure enough the footprints led straight to the Uchiha compound and vanished into one of the houses. The evil glint in her eyes was positively sparkling at the thought of the blackmail material.

The pair were in a joyous mood as they ate, though it was carefully hidden when they headed back to class. It wouldn't do to give away their identities as the masterminds, after all.

Fukuko was obviously more interested in the afternoon's lessons, enjoying the practical weapons training much more than the long, tedious lectures about Konoha's history. Besides, she learnt those bits much better when Miku explained it to her in the evenings, the younger girl knowing exactly what to threaten her with if she didn't at least learn enough to scrape through her exams.

At the end of the day they took to the rooftops for the quickest route home, subtly avoiding the various traps they'd laid on the more commonly used roofs. The pair hop into the trees that edge their garden, using the branches to swing to the ground. As soon as she passed the back door, 'Kuko dropped her school bag, slipped of her shoes and aimed for the kitchen for her next caffeine boost. Miku followed at a much calmer pace, also removing her shoes, and grabbed the older girl's bag to take upstairs.

Kuko took the newly made tea to a bench in the garden where Miku joined her to simply sit and relax, enjoying the tea, peace and quiet. Morikawa would usually check in on them around this time, always happy to snag a cup of tea and occasionally stay for dinner, however this time, he was out on a mission with his Genin team. During such times, the academy teachers would keep a closer eye on the pair, to make sure they were okay, and there were a fair few people they knew they could go to in an emergency.

After their tea, the girls worked on any homework they'd been given and Miku taught 'Kuko the important parts of the lessons she'd not paid attention in, reiterating the content into a pranking context, where possible, to make it more interesting. Needless to say, these were the things 'Kuko remembered best.

The hour or so before bed was their dedicated Prank Plotting Time, which took place in a secret basement. The entrance was disguised as an ornately carved shelf unit with a beautiful ornamental tea set displayed upon it. Here they would plan future pranks, discuss the results of previous pranks for refinement, reuse or discarding, and update their victim list. The first order of business was adding ' **Uchiha ? - Fluorescent Pink Paint and Glitter Trap** ' to afore mentioned list.

"So, the paint trap was a provisional success. I'll fetch the camera later for verification." Miku spoke quietly as she wrote up the details on their list.

"I'll keep an ear on the gossip lines for the long term effects, see how long the added dyes stain their skin, and get a name for our victim. And I've got an idea for a double prank," Kuko's speech sped up in her excitement, and she eagerly continued at Miku's questioning raised eyebrow. "You know how Tsunade-hime* keeps beating up Jiraiya-san for things? We're going to be learning the Henge no Jutsu** soon, so if we prank Tsunade-hime while henge'd as Jiraiya-san…"

"We then get to watch the fallout of that as well for hours of fun," Miku finished with that devious glint back in her eye.

"Okay, first step, you need to show yourself as being bad at Henge no Jutsu, if I did it they'd never believe it, until a while after we perform this. Second, reconnaissance. We'll need to watch Jiraiya-san, get to know his habits and mannerisms to be able to convincingly act like him. Good plan, Kuko-chan. So, details…"

*o*o*o*

Miku slipped silently through dark, deserted back-alleys, practically disappearing into the shadows if she spotted anyone nearby. Only the slightest rustling emerged from the branch she pulled herself up onto to retrieve the camera she had hidden amongst the leaves. Mission complete, she crept back home, remaining just as unnoticed as on the way there.

*o*o*o*

In the mornings, the girls grudgingly rose at six o'clock. Their first half-hour was spent drinking tea to wake themselves up before going for an hour long run. They always ended at main gate, which was a five minute jog from their house, so Kuko could gossip with the pair of Chūnin who were the morning gate guards, Hisoka and Isao. It was a little known fact that the pair were probably the biggest gossips in the village, and Miku could easily picture them as a pair of old biddies, gossiping about anything and everything all day long.

The younger girl would exchange the customary greetings and five or ten minutes of small talk with the older men, before jogging home to cook breakfast, leaving her more sociable adoptive sister to her gossip-gathering. It was through this most useful source they found out that their victim had been Uchiha Inabi, the dyes had done their job - staining the man's skin a vibrant pink which, as yet, hadn't faded - and that the paint was rather stubbornly refusing to be washed out of the man's hair. All in all, prank successful.

*o*o*o*

"Well, class. Today, we start work on the most basic, yet crucial, of any shinobi's infiltration ninjutsu, the Henge no Jutsu." And suddenly a class of bored students magically transformed into a class of eager, excited students, causing their sensei**** to chuckle a little at the change.

"So the hand seals required are, dog," the sensei placed his left hand flat on top of his right fist, "boar," both hands formed fists with the bottom of the palms pressed together, both hands pointing to the ground, "and ram," again the hands were together, though not fists, the left slightly higher than the right, his ring and little fingers and thumbs curled with the lefts on top of the rights, and his index and middle fingers pointing up.

"Practice the hand seals _without_ moulding chakra until I find them acceptable," a low groan echoed through a few students who thought themselves above such tediousness and wanted to just try the jutsu already.

Miku and Fukuko did as asked without complaint, the latter giggling when their sensei had to correct a few of the groaners' hand seals.

"Now, you may mould chakra as you form the seals, keeping the image of your target firmly in your mind, and release it steadily and consistently after you change, I don't expect anyone to get it first time, but to make it a little easier I want you to pair off and transform into your partner so their shouldn't be too much of a height difference between you and your target. Off you go."

Miku tried first, the pair expecting that she would get the hang of the jutsu fairly quickly, and sure enough, the sixth try gave perfection, though ' Kuko was still in hysterics from the results of the first few tries. Her favourite, by far, was the one-legged, zombie-Kuko of attempt number four, a picture of it ended up framed in the living room right next to an armless, one-legged, drooling, zombie-Miku which had arisen from 'Kuko's twelfth attempt just before they left for lunch.

That night, after Miku made sure 'Kuko could actually perform the Henge when she tried and wasn't sabotaging herself, the pair put their skills to the test. They transformed into Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu, a pair of known troublemakers from their class, and snuck over to the Hyūga compound, armed with cans of neon pink and lime green paint, setting to work redecorating the walls of the compound in stripes of the horribly clashing colours. For the first time, they were spotted as they finished their masterpiece, though it was entirely intentional, and the pair fled, their Henge still holding. They split up and, using all their knowledge of hidey-holes and unlit back alleys, ditched their pursuers. Once they succeeded , they dropped the Henge and stealthily made their way home, looking forward to the results they would discover in the morning.

*o*o*o*

On their morning run, Miku and 'Kuko were treated to the amusing sight of Izumo and Kotetsu being dragged by their ears by a pair of Hyūga , buckets of soapy water and scrubbing brushes in hand, presumably to clean the walls the girls had redecorated. Part One - learn Henge with 'Kuko seeming bad at it, complete. On to part Two - Reconnaissance.

It didn't take long to find Jiraiya, perched by the fence of the women's onsen***, giggling pervertedly as he peeked through a hole in the fence. The pair observed him silently for a few weeks, taking note of the little details necessary to pull off a convincing Jiraiya impression, that goofy expression when drooling over something pervertedly, the look of horror whenever he was caught by Tsunade - the pair had had front row seats to the royal beating he received when Tsunade caught him peeking at her in the onsen once - his habit of sleeping on the rooftops and, probably most importantly, learning his speech, the way he speaks, as well as the tone and sound of his voice for imitation, which would probably be the hardest part to pull off. So while 'Kuko spent a few days refining her imitation and forcing her voice to sound as close to Jiraiya's as possible, Miku finalised the details of the plan and kept a discrete eye on Tsunade to try and figure out the best opportunity to put the plan into action.

*o*o*o*

*hime = princess, Tsunade-hime is a common nickname for Tsunade due to being the 1st Hokage's Granddaughter

**Henge no Jutsu - Transformation Technique

***Onsen = Hot Spring

****Sensei = Teacher

 **And voila a chapter complete. Please feed the hungry muse else she'll go wandering to find her own food, and I really don't want to have to try locking her up again…**

 **So, anyways, reviewers get cookies, and see you again for the next chapter.**

 **Your trying-to-type-around-a-cat-flopped-on-the-keyboard author**

 **Kouseki**


	3. Of Academy Days Part 2

**And another chapter for anyone actually reading this.**

 **Chapter 2 - Of Academy Days - Part 2**

The morning dawned brightly and, for a rare change, the pair of girls bounced out of bed, excitement for the plan finally being put into action over-riding their usual caffeine-deprived sluggishness. To prevent suspicion from Morikawa, who was planning on taking them out for lunch, they stuck to their schedule, tea, run, gossip and breakfast. They met the Jōnin outside their house at just after ten so they could get some extra shopping done while someone else was paying.

Thus, the plan was put into motion. Miku spotted Jiraiya snoozing on an out-of-the-way rooftop and signalled 'Kuko to get 'lost' in the crowds. The older girl snuck through the back alleys towards Tsunade's usual haunts for a Saturday morning, and struck gold on the second possibility. She hoisted herself into a densely-leaved tree and quickly activated her Henge, removing a water balloon on a string from her bag and dangling it over a low branch. As the target approached the drop site, Miku appeared from a side street, appearing to be searching quite desperately for her wayward friend and caused enough of a distraction to make Tsunade pause at the perfect moment.

Splat!

The balloon struck home, breaking easily and spilling a vibrant orange dye all over her, accompanied by a perfect Jiraiya cackle as the Henge'd 'Kuko fled the scene, aiming roughly towards the spot the pair had seen Jiraiya. Ducking down an empty street, she released the Jutsu and turned around, regulating her breathing and plastering a perfectly innocent look of surprise onto her face, just in time for Tsunade to appear 'round the corner.

"Where did he go?" The older woman practically growled out the question, an enraged aura crackling around her.

"He just disappeared into smoke Tsunade-hime. I don't know where…" A perfect act of an innocent child, intimidated by a far stronger and older kunoichi's rage.

"'Kuko-chan, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Miku ran to her friend from the other end of the street, worry creeping through her usually neutral expression. She gasped upon seeing the dripping, orange Tsunade.

"Tsunade-hime, what happened? Should we get someone?" The kunoichi shook her head, hopping onto the roof and running off as she caught sight of a glimpse of white hair on a distant roof..

Once certain the woman was far enough away, the pair collapsed into giggles, leaning on each other to prevent themselves from falling to the floor. They eventually managed to reign in their laughter and ran back to Morikawa, 'Kuko babbling on about a really pretty kimono she had seen the other week that 'would have suited Miku perfectly but someone else must have bought it already, 'cos it's not there anymore.'

A strangled scream drifted over the rooftops, drawing the attention of the morning crowd. The white blur if Jiraiya flashed overhead, fleeing from the enraged Tsunade. The adults in the crowd shook their heads and moved on, well used to ignoring the antics of the village's shinobi, while their children stared in awe and other shinobi rolled their eyes, wondering why Jiraiya hadn't learnt his lesson about not pissing Tsunade off yet.

'Kuko grabbed Morikawa's hand and dragged him along to a different clothes shop, determined to get Miku something pretty instead of the practical, but very bland, clothes she usually wore.

Ten shops later, the older girl finally decided she'd found enough, much to her companions' relief, the younger girl glad not to be forced into anymore dresses, while the older man mentally whined over the lightening of his wallet.

In sympathy for the man's funds, Miku suggested the, relatively, cheap option of Ichiraku's Ramen for lunch, 'Kuko's love of the food preventing any complaints from her.

*o*o*o*

"It's about time we hit the Academy, isn't it?" Oh, how simple a phrase it is, that could lead to such chaos.

'Kuko stared at her younger companion for a moment, before the mother of all grins spread over her face. The 'Secret Lair' beneath the girls' house became a flurry of activity for several nights as plans were made, discarded and refined in preparation for their grand scheme, as the opportune moment drew closer.

*o*o*o*

"And so it was, at the Valley of the End that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara fought…" 'Kuko's head dropped to the desk in front of her with a thunk, muffled slightly by the notebook Miku slid into position at the first sign of movement.

"Urgh, why does Toshio-sensei have to teach this stuff? It could be an awesome story, if only it was told by someone with a more interesting voice." The older girl complained, almost silently, to Miku, knowing, despite the lack of obvious response, that the younger girl agreed.

"Just take a nap 'Kuko-chan, we'll have a long night tonight and you're not paying attention anyway." The mahogany haired girl did just that, smiling in anticipation.

The pair took their time leaving that afternoon, listening closely to the gossip of who had graduated this time.

"Another Uchiha graduated early..."

"It's not like there was any doubt about that one..."

"I'm surprised that troublemaker made it through..."

"His sensei must be glad to be rid of that one..."

"Another one of our lot failed, they're all jealous of how young Hatake-san graduated..."

"Looks like we have our scapegoat Ku-chan." Miku nodded and pulled herself up onto the nearest roof, to begin the trip home, making a couple of stops along the way for a few last supplies, 'Kuko took care of the bottles of sake with her Jiraiya imitation.

"You're not planning on annoying Tsunade-hime, are you, Jiraiya-san? To need this much sake..." The shopkeeper looked a little worried at the number of bottles but left it alone when 'Kuko laughed it off as 'nothing like that'.

Time seemed to drag on as the pair tried to occupy themselves while waiting for nightfall, but finally, their patience was rewarded and the grabbed their backpacks before slipping away through the shadows. The worked through the night, both Henge'd as the newly graduated prankster, just in case they were caught in the act.

Eventually dawn started creeping in as the last paint pot from the supply they'd stashed nearby was emptied and Miku returned from distributing the sake - a bottle was left by the door of every sensei with a note that said 'You'll need this', written in Toshio-sensei's handwriting.

The girls made use of an old shed to quickly change into their normal attire for the morning run and sped away, leaving no evidence of their involvement, their backpacks stashed on their tree-platform for later retrieval.

*o*o*o*

It was barely 7:30 when the first enraged yell emerged from the academy, and the first sensei of the day swore vengeance for the pot of paint tipped over his head. And for the horribly clashing paint splashed over the walls. And the waxing of all the floors which had forced him to attach himself to the ground with chakra to even reach said classroom.

Unfortunately for the Sensei, there wasn't enough time for them to do much to fix the damage before their students started to arrive. There were those who thanked Kami-sama for the sake and pre-emptively began to drown their sorrows together. There were those who took the futile path of trying to at least fix their own classrooms in time. Then there were the ones with enough of a sense of humour to run or shunshin home to grab their cameras before sitting back to enjoy the show. The Chūnin who were working the mission desk that day either joined the latter group whenever they got a break, or counted themselves lucky that the admministrative division had been left untouched. The various ninja coming and going for missions, took one look at the ribbons and glitter decorating the trees outside and thought it better not to ask and simply move on.

Chaos. No, perhaps Pandemonium would be better. That was what greeted 'Kuko and Miku upon their arrival, as the latest batch of students went sliding down the corridor and through the trapdoor they'd installed at the end of it. Thus, they turned around and decided to enter their class through the window, climbing one of the be-glittered trees to reach it, and laughing at the classmate who'd done the same but (un)fortunately picked a window they'd rigged with a paint pot.

Miku settled at her desk with a book, expecting it to take a while for either class to start or a sensei to announce classes were cancelled. 'Kuko amused herself with peeking her head out the door and watching the students slide down the halls, attempting to grab the doorframes of their classrooms to swing themselves in. There were varying degrees of success.

Option 1 - Failure, miss the door frame completely and keep sliding 'til they hit the wall at the end of the corridor or another student sliding the other way.

Option 2 - Half-Fail, succeed in catching door frame but can't swing themselves sharply enough, thus smack face-first into the shut half of the door.

Option 3 - Almost Success, succeed in swinging but the transition from slippery floor to normal floor causes face-planting, or swing too sharply and smack face-first into wall within the room.

Option 4 - Success, it worked without incident, this option was a rather rare occurrence but any who did manage it got a good laugh at the victims of options 1-3.

Eventually that source of entertainment exhausted itself and 'Kuko dropped herself next to Izumo and Kotetsu to join in their discussion over the possible culprit(s).

The academy ended up closing for the rest of the week to sort out the clean-up - most of which was set as D-rank missions which the new Genin were stuck with - and by the end of that day the rumour mill had somewhat agreed that the culprits were a group of 4-5 people, most likely recent graduates, though the specific identities varied greatly, from the recently graduated prankster with some friends to a group of bored ANBU. However, despite all efforts, no certain culprit was found and proven guilty.

An added bonus to their venture, was 'Kuko's discovery of Izumo and Kotetsu's habit of gossiping, giving her an extra source of rumours and someone to chat with when she thought Miku was being too boring by studying.

*o*o*o*

 **Tada, after this we get to the proper plot and more interesting things and the chapters will most likely start getting longer.**

 **Reviews feed the hungry muse, she really needs something to keep her from wandering.**

 **Your Knackered-From-Lack-of-Sleep-Last-Night-But-Determined-Not-to-be-Late-Posting Author**

 **Kouseki**


	4. Of Graduation

Chapter 3 - of Graduation

'Kuko bounced out of bed, almost sprinting to the kitchen to make some tea. Miku blinked tiredly at the blur that vanished through the doorway before slowly following, deciding to ignore the crazy habits of her best friend. As she set foot in the kitchen, she found herself dragged to the table and forced into a chair, a cup of green tea shoved under her nose which she hastily grabbed before it could be dropped. As the caffeine rushed through her system, she idly wondered whether it was a good idea for 'Kuko to be getting an energy boost, given the way she was bouncing already, but let it go. It was too early to worry about such things.

On their morning run, Miku quizzed 'Kuko on various things they'd potentially find in the written exam that afternoon. The gate guards barely got a word in edgewise when they stopped to chat, 'Kuko babbling excitedly about their graduation exam and finally getting out of the academy to learn the interesting, 'proper-ninja stuff'. Miku smiled amusedly as she left them to their fate, pondering over what to make for breakfast and lunch.

The raven haired girl couldn't stop giggling during lunch when 'Kuko finally seemed to remember the written part of the exam and descended into a cloud of gloom, growing mushrooms on the corner of their tree-platform and muttering about failure and the horror of being an eternal student. It took nearly the whole hour break to calm her down, force some food down her throat and successfully drag her inside the building to take the test, though their Sensei was relieved to not have to deal with her bouncing through the whole thing. Unfortunately for them, the end of the written test brought the return of the bounce as she looked forward to the practical side.

And the bounce somehow got worse as the word 'Pass' left Toshio-Sensei's lips. She hopped over his desk and dragged him into a hug, almost squeezing the life out of the man, before vanishing through the door to glomp Miku, babbling at her joyously for a while before dragging her along to Yakiniku Q to celebrate with the other fresh graduates. The younger girl left 'Kuko to her gossiping with Izumo and Kotetsu and ended up discussing the exam with a black haired girl with red eyes name Yūhi Kurenai.

*o*o*o*

The next day, the pair sat in their usual spots for the last time, watching as the other graduates disappeared in threes with their new Jōnin -Senseis.

"Team 5, Ito Fukuko, Yūhi Kurenai," 'Kuko glanced worriedly at Miku, silently praying that they'd be on the same team, "And Ogawa Miku," the younger girl suffered through a happy glomp, rolling her eyes in despair.

"Your Jōnin-Sensei is Morino Ibiki. Team 6…" The trio glanced at their new Sensei, a tall, imposing man with 2 long scars running down his face. They followed him from the room and, at his command, dashed to Training Ground Twenty Three, Kurenai following the other two who knew the quickest way there over the rooftops. They skidded to a halt under Ibiki-Sensei's sharp gaze, Kurenai panting slightly from the fast pace the other two had set.

"My name is Morino Ibiki, from the T & I Corps* and, should you pass my test, I shall be your Sensei from today onwards. As such, I want to know your strengths, weaknesses and what area you plan to specialise in. You first." The man spoke with a no-nonsense tone, pointing at 'Kuko to speak first.

"Yosh, I'm Itō Fukuko, though I generally go by 'Kuko, I'm good at Taijutsu** and plan on specializing there, though I like explosives too so want to incorporate them into my style, not so good with Genjutsu*** and 'Ku-chan says I babble too much." Kurenai giggled a little at that, thereby volunteering to go next.

"I'm Yūhi Kurenai, I'm good with Genjutsu and want to specialize in it, but my stamina and physical strength aren't too good."

"I'm Ogawa Miku. My strength is in Ninjutsu****, where I'd like to specialize, though I'd like to be proficient with a sword as well. My weaknesses are Genjutsu and physical strength, though my Genjutsu is marginally better than 'Kuko's." Ibiki nodded, while 'Kuko whined a little about it not being her fault she sucked at Genjutsu.

"Now then, your test is thus, you shall find Dokuraku Mawashi, interrogate him for my location, retrieve the scroll he carries and bring that scroll to me. Understood?" The trio straightened with a chorus of "Hai*****, Sensei," before Ibiki vanished in a swirl of leaves. 'Kuko glanced at her teammates and sat down with a groan.

"I know that look on your face, 'Ku-chan, you're already coming up with some amazingly complicated plan , aren't you?" Miku gave a small smile and joined the older girl on the ground. Kurenai stood awkwardly for a moment before joining them, watching as 'Kuko despaired with her head in her hands.

"If you think her plans are too complex, what would you do instead?" 'Kuko jumped up with a fist pump.

"I'd find the guy and beat him up 'til he gives us what we need!" A huge grin spread over her face with her declaration.

"And that is probably why I don't trust you with the planning, 'Kuko-chan." The brown haired girl plopped back down with a huff, pointedly staring away from Miku.

"But it would be so much simpler besides, 'Nai-chan asked."

"It wouldn't work. Given that Ibiki-Sensei is from T & I, the person we're looking for likely is as well. Beating him up wouldn't be enough to make him talk, and before you complain, Kurenai-chan, 'Kuko-chan insists on shortening everyone's name. If you make a fuss, she'll give you an embarrassing nickname instead." Kurenai closed her mouth and slumped slightly in grudging acceptance, though she soon perked up again with the light of inspiration in her eyes.

"Why doesn't one of us Henge as another member of T & I and tell Dokuraku-san that he's needed somewhere else, and they'll take over for him as the test's target?" The other two pondered the idea for a minute, 'Kuko soon grumbling about it probably being better than her plan.

"It's not a bad plan, Kurenai-chan, but I doubt he would believe that the target we're aiming for would change when the test has already begun. However, the Henge idea is good, perhaps as an ANBU looking for Ibiki-Sensei."

"What about the scroll, though?" ''Kuko bounced up again, to answer her teammate.

"I can pickpocket him, I'm good at that. Ah! Don't look at me like that, 'Nai-chan, I haven't done anything bad with that skill." She hastily added at the wary look on Kurenai's face. Miku smiled slightly at her friend's antics before returning her thoughts to the plan.

"I can do the Henge, once we find Dokuraku-san, I should be able to sneak up on him well enough to disguise my lack of ANBU-level speed. Once he speaks it doesn't matter if he finds out the truth. But, if ''Kuko-chan gets caught before she can grab the scroll, Kurenai-chan, do you think you could either knock him out or grab the scroll while ''Kuko-chan keeps him distracted?" The ebony haired girl pondered the suggestion before nodding, mini plans for each scenario playing through her mind.

"Yosh, 'Nai-chan, head for T & I headquarters and ask about Dokuraku-san, we'll make sure 'Ku-chan's Henge is accurate, and we can all meet up in the top of the tallest tree in the academy, there's a small platform in the higher branches." Kurenai nodded and ran off while the other two stayed behind to perfect Miku's Henge with ''Kuko being extra-critical as payback for when Miku did the same over the Jiraiya Henge.

The trio gathered half an hour later to refine the plan, based on their target's location, and had lunch while they waited an hour to lessen the suspicion of the Henge if Dokuraku had been told they were asking about him.

*o*o*o*

Miku carefully dropped down from the roof to balance on the open, first floor window of Dokuraku's office, the slight creak of the wooden frame as she settled startling the man from his paperwork.

"Is there something I can help you with, ANBU-san?" Miku allowed herself a small smile behind her mask at the successful deception.

"I bring an urgent missive from Hokage-sama for Ibiki-san. Do you know his current location?" The Henge'd girl kept her voice even and unemotional, lower than her usual pitch to disguise her youth.

"He's waiting for his Genin team by the seventh gate of Training Ground Forty Four. Is there a problem, ANBU-san?" While the target was distracted, ''Kuko quietly slipped into the office, keeping her footsteps light and silent and breathing as quietly as she was able. She ducked under the desk and creeped forward, reaching carefully for the scroll that peeked out from the man's pocket.

"That information is confidential, though there should be no interference with his Genin's test," As ''Kuko's fingers grasped the scroll, Miku dropped from the windowsill to ground level as she let off a small smoke bomb to hide her movements from Dokuraku. The older girl almost pulled the scroll free but a hand suddenly grasped her wrist, halting her attempt. She blinked with innocent eyes up at the questioning raised eyebrow aimed at her.

"Not bad littler Genin, but not good enough, and the scroll isn't all you need," as Dokuraku began to pull ''Kuko's hand away from the scroll, a stone flew through the open window and smacked into the back of his head. He released the girl with a startled yelp and she took the opportunity, yanking the scroll from his pocket and fleeing, a quick wave to Kurenai signalling that she was successful. The black haired jumped down from the roof of the opposite building and ran off to their rendezvous point.

Miku was first to arrive back at their tree-platform, dropping the Henge and perching on a slightly higher branch to look out for the return of her teammates. Kurenai appeared slightly before ''Kuko, having had the advantage of no twisting corridors to navigate. The youngest dropped down from her branch to their platform as ''Kuko held up the successfully retrieved scroll with a grin.

"So, what's our destination, Miku-chan?"

"Gate Seven of Training Ground Forty Four, the Forest of Death, it's to the North of here, beyond the village walls. I think it's the gate nearest the river on this side of the area." The three took off, Miku in the lead, angling Northwards and turning North-West to find the river once the training ground came into view. They slowed and returned, from the canopy, to the ground as they noticed Ibiki leaning slightly against the gate into the fenced area. ''Kuko bounced over to present the scroll to their Sensei, a grin stretched across her face which was mirrored by Kurenai while Miku gave a small smile which meant the same.

"Three hours and Twenty Six minutes, and you retrieved my location without Mawashi-san's knowledge, impressive for fresh graduates." He paused, enjoying the slight worry that began to creep into ''Kuko and Kurenai's faces the longer he stayed silent. "Congratulations, you pass." It took all of the man's self-control to resist the urge to cover his ears at the joyous screams from two thirds of his new students, though he could empathise with the long-suffering look he caught from the youngest girl as she was dragged into a group hug.

"Hey, 'Nai-chan, you should come over to our place for dinner tonight, 'Ku-chan's an awesome cook and celebratory meals are even better. 'Biki-Sensei, you should come too, 'cos we're all a team now!" Ibiki raised a stern eyebrow at the babbling girl who blinked back with completely unrepentant eyes that held a hidden shadow that promised revenge if he should refuse. The man ignored the whisper in his mind that wanted to refuse just to see what the brunette would do as revenge, and sighed, allowing 'Kuko to grab his arm and start dragging him back towards Konoha, the other two stifling their laughter as they followed.

*o*o*o*

 *** Torture and Interrogation**

 **** Hand to hand Techniques**

 ***** Illusion Techniques**

 ****** Ninja Techniques - any technique that lets the user do something they normally wouldn't be capable of.**

 ******* Yes**

 **Yes, I know, I missed last month but things were really busy and while the chapter was written I had no time in which to type it up, even with the added hours from deciding not to sleep some nights. If I can finish it, I'll try and get the next chapter up today as well but no promises, 'cos all the coursework is being piled upon me and as it's for university I can't just ignore it for a while and pray things turn out alright.**

 **Reviews feed the hungry muse, who's kinda starving at the moment, so please do feed it.**

 **Your Knackered-from-too-Much-Coursework-and-Not-Enough-Sleep Author**

 **Kouseki**


	5. Of Genin Days

**Warnings: Torture- not overly graphic but there, and a single swear word *Le gasp***

 _Chapter 4 - Of Genin Days_

"Right Genins, the first thing you get to enjoy in your new lives as kunoichi is D-ranks. Prepare yourselves for the most mind-numbingly boring missions you will ever undertake. However, the more you do quickly, the sooner you can move on to better things, therefore you start immediately." Ibiki-sensei grinned sadistically at the half-asleep girls, two thirds of which looked half ready to kill themselves already, while Miku just clutched a large mug of green tea, gradually becoming more alert as the caffeine kicked in. Though one thing they all had in common was the desire to murder their sensei for dragging them out of bed to meet up at five in the morning on their first day.

Ibiki's grin only widened as a glare developed on Miku's face as she dragged together the energy to do so. He quickly herded the trio towards the Hokage tower, to visit the mission desk, the Chūnin on duty flinching away from the youngest girl's dark glare when she caught the pitying look he sent them.

"Give us a D-rank, don't care which, just the first you grab, we'll be back for more later." The Chūnin shuddered at Ibiki's grin as the man dodged his youngest student's attempt to bite him when his arm indicating the three came too close. The Chūnin hurriedly passed over a scroll and sighed in relief as the quartet finally left, infinitely glad that his shift was nearly over, so hopefully he would be gone before they returned.

"Okay, kiddies, I hope you like getting your hands dirty because Tamura-san needs help with harvesting his vegetables and you're the hired help, have fun." Ibiki vanished into the trees laughing to himself as the three girls yelled curses after him, 'Kuko's were particularly creative until she was silenced by ''Ku, who preferred not to insult their employer with such a rude introduction. In moments the three were set to work, 'Ku, as the fastest, had the duty of running full baskets to the house and bringing empty ones back, while the other two did the actual harvesting, 'Kuko tackling the larger veg that needed more strength and 'Nai got the more delicate crops.

Three hours later they trudged back to the mission desk, covered in mud and silent, having run out of curses to throw at their sensei, for another D-rank.

By the end of the day, they'd completed five D-ranks and were about ready to collapse into bed, though just about managed to force some food down and grab a quick shower first.

*o*o*o*

The rest of the week followed in much the same manner, spending their days fixing fences, painting fences, building sheds, retrieving lost pets - it was decided missions of this variety were to be avoided after a particularly vicious pet ferret got on the wrong side of 'Ku in a bad mood and ended up with a broken leg - harvesting and planting various crops, running errands for various businesses and a number of other mind-numbing tasks. By silently acknowledged unanimous agreement, the trio decided that if next week was going to be the same then Ibiki-sensei would die, no matter what it took.

Fortunately, for all involved, Ibiki-sensei didn't force anymore D-ranks on them and they were even allowed to sleep in 'til six from then on.

"Ohayo, little Genins. You'll be glad to know that no more D-ranks are necessary, if you're fortunate you'll never have to do another in your life. Or at least not until you're senseis yourselves. Instead we begin proper training. Every morning we'll meet at Training Ground 27 at seven o'clock. Before you get there you will have run two laps of the village, as your training progresses, the number of laps will increase and if you slack off I will know and you will not like the consequences. We'll start with combat, let's see what you know. It's a free-for-all between you three, anything goes, the victor doesn't have to stay here training until midnight, so the quicker you win the more time off you get or the more drawn out the less your friends suffer. Begin." The girls vanished into the trees around them, 'Ku taking a quick pot shot at 'Kuko's head with a kunai, which _may_ have _accidentally_ missed and almost hit Ibiki-sensei instead, on the way. The sensei smirked as he leant out of the way of the kunai, with them showing such potential already, he could expect great things from his students.

'Ku almost instantly vanished among the leaves, leaving no trace her fellow students could track and made a small nest for herself, to plot out her strategy. She and 'Kuko had sparred many times before but 'Nai was a relative unknown bar the few things she'd noticed in the Academy, - _lesser strength and stamina, decent speed and Taijutsu_ \- and what the other had mentioned in their initial meet and greet - _a talent at Genjutsu, could be problematic but I should be able to notice it well enough._ She settled in to wait, listening for the movements of her teammates and watching from her lofty perch for any unnatural branch waving to give away their positions.

'Kuko skittered across the lower canopy, she knew 'Ku would never be found once hidden, - there was a reason they never played hide and seek after all - so would be better off hunting down their eldest team member and waiting to see if the youngest revealed herself. An unnatural smear of black flashed through her peripheral vision and the girl slowed, circling back to find the cause. When she found nothing, 'Kuko became instantly more cautious, eyes darting around for any signs of a trap, years of setting them herself letting her know what to look for, but it was too late, her weakness at Genjutsu was her downfall. Fortunately the pain from being stabbed with a kunai was enough to shatter the fragile illusion and if there was anything 'Kuko had more than her strength and Taijutsu skills, it was pure stubbornness to keep going. Her own kunai slashed at 'Nai, who recognised the breaking of her illusion and danced out of the way, her slightly superior speed saving her but she knew she couldn't last in a drawn out fight with the brunette. A few kunai appeared suddenly from the surrounding trees, pinpoint precision opening slices across the pair's right forearms and just above the eyes. 'Kuko's attention darted to the origin, finding no sign of 'Ku, acknowledging that she was likely already long gone. Thus gave 'Nai the opening needed to escape, a subtle Genjutsu masking her exit, so she could patch her wounds and set up a new trap for whichever of the other two she could catch , most likely 'Kuko again.

'Ku chose to have a little more fun than simply playing cat and mouse, she ambushed 'Kuko as soon as the girl started moving again, after binding her forearm and smearing a little yarrow salve over her head wound to stop the bleeding. The youngest swung from the side, kicking at 'Kuko's legs and knocking the brunette from her branch, taking it for herself. The elder girl grabbed onto a different branch, stopping her descent and grinned. What followed was an elaborate dance, blades flashing and fists flying, 'Ku leaving painful precise jabs and many shallow slices, while 'Kuko gave less precise, stronger punches and fewer, deeper wounds. They parted after half an hour or so, with silent agreement to separate and lick their wounds, then give 'Nai another chance to play.

As predicted it was 'Kuko who wandered, again, into 'Nai's trap but it wasn't so effective a second time 'Kuko reacting faster to the expected pain and escaping with only a small nick just below her ribs. This time, determined to end things between them, 'Kuko grabbed the older girl, pulling her closer and attacking in quick succession, but her subtle tiredness from the spar with 'Ku and 'Nai's greater speed let the elder dodge the attack, twisting 'Kuko's hold against her and trying to land her own hit instead. The brunette knocked 'Nai's kunai from her grasp with her free hand and kicked back at the other, giving a glancing blow that was just destabilising enough to loosen her hold. 'Kuko broke free but lost her kunai as 'Nai aimed a sharp jap at the pressure point on her wrist, so they faced each other bare handed, Nai too unused to fighting 'Kuko to know which hits were safe to take, thus limiting the damage she could deal herself as she kept dodging, however 'Kuko gained no advantage as 'Nai's style was too different to the fast, fluid style that 'Ku used for her too effectively counter the greater speed. A lucky kick to 'Nai's leg unbalanced her and she fell back against the trunk of their tree, knocking her head and dazing her long enough for 'Kuko to grab a new kunai to hold to her throat, taking the eldest out of the fight.

The rustle of leaves above them and flash of black hair disappearing let 'Kuko know that 'Ku would leave her some time to recover and hunt down some food before they finished this contest, which she did as soon as she checked 'Nai over to make sure she was alright enough to make it back to where they started.

The younger pair's second fight went much the same as the first both slowly but surely wearing each other down. 'Kuko's greater stamina proved to be the winning factor this time, as she swung at 'Ku's head, the younger's exhaustion slowing her too much to fully dodge, knocking her from the branch to lie winded on the ground, quite content to let 'Kuko have this win, after all she was still two up on their sparring tally back home. The brunette helped her friend stagger back to the start where they both collapsed next to 'Nai, 'Kuko on her back with arms spread and 'Ku curled up on her side, using the brunette as a pillow.

The three barely moved bar the tilting of heads when Ibiki-sensei shunshin'ed to stand in front of them.

"Congratulations Fukuko,-"

"Please just call me 'Kuko, the only time anyone uses my full name is when I'm in trouble." 'Kuko whined, getting a giggle from her teammates for it. Ibiki-sensei stared at the girl with a raised eyebrow for a few moments until she squirmed before nodding and continuing.

"For winning. Now, it may be a bit late but I brought lunch." Ibiki-sensei held up a stack of bentō boxes and 'Kuko was on her feet in seconds, 'Ku meeting the ground with a quiet 'Oof', sending a glare to the older girl before rising, stretching out er protesting muscles before accepting her own box, and climbing one of the nearby training posts to perch on while she ate, 'Kuko having already claimed her own. 'Nai just shook her head at their antics, quite happy to sit on the ground between their posts to eat, while Ibiki-sensei leant against a third post, watching the three with a smile while he had his own lunch.

*o*o*o*

"Before 'Kuko is free to go, you three need to learn the Ki Nobori no Shugyō." 'Kuko opened her mouth to argue that they could already climb trees but closed it without a word when Ibiki started to walk straight up the trunk of the nearest tree, a raised eyebrow from his horizontal position asking what they were waiting for.

"You need to channel chakra through your feet to hold on, right?" 'Nai asked receiving a nod in return. A smirk bloomed over Ibiki-sensei's face as 'Kuko tried first, channelling too much chakra and launching herself away from the tree, reflexively managing to grab onto one of the training posts to halt her flight.

'Ku rolled her eyes at her friend's over-exuberance - "I think you gave it a bit much, 'Kuko-chan!" - and placed one foot against her own tree, gradually increasing the chakra flow until her foot no longer slid when she applied pressure. She cautiously began her ascent, quickly increasing the chakra when she began to slide once both feet where off the ground. Making a mental note of the needed output, she cast aside the cautious pace and walked normally, climbing up to a wide branch and walking circles around it. She hopped to the next tree to high-five 'Nai who succeeded seconds later. 'Kuko growled at the grins they sent her way as she took the opposite approach, lowering her chakra output until she found the perfect level.

It was early evening when Ibiki-sensei let 'Kuko go, having made all three run up and down tree trunks and along the underside of branches, throwing rocks at them as distractions until satisfied they didn't need to focus too much conscious thought on staying attached. He had the other two running laps of the village walls to build their stamina 'til midnight, allowing short breaks after each lap, he didn't want them collapsing before time after all.

*o*o*o*

The next morning was dedicated to stamina training as well but after lunch was the introduction to Torture and Interrogation. As Ibiki-sensei was a firm believer in learning by doing, the girls were given one of a few bandits that had been caught that morning, tied to a chair and told to find out the location of their hideout and size of the force there, while the sensei himself watched through the interrogation room's cameras.

"So does this mean we can beat him up to our hearts' content without repercussions?" 'Kuko was practically vibrating in place with excitement at the prospect. Their victim smirked at the thought of three little girls trying to beat him for information.

"Sorry 'Kuko-chan, but a tough guy like this won't surrender from a beating. Precision is key for this one." 'Kuko slumped in disappointment as 'Ku pulled out a kunai with a vicious grin. A quick Genjutsu from 'Nai gave the smallest girl a living bestial shadow, that echoed the grin, growling menacingly. The bandit's grin faded to worry. And a hint of dread as the demon-child approached. The shadow-beast vanished with the pain of 'Ku's slice but she was a master of precision, and knew the best places to give the most pain with the least chance of death or unconsciousness. It took barely half an hour before he was singing like a canary, the three exiting the room to meet Ibiki-sensei, the elder two keeping a slight distance behind 'Ku, 'Kuko having forgotten the truly vicious side to her friend when necessary and 'Nai feeling slightly ill from watching her display. Ibiki-sensei was ecstatic at the potential shown, worrying a fair few of his colleagues with his grin as he passed them.

*o*o*o*

With the end of the week came the team's first C-rank, no Chūnin at the mission desk dared comment when Ibiki-sensei took it. Unfortunately, while being a rather simple escort mission, which was quite appropriate for a first C-rank, their client was the daughter of a noble. Who just would. Not. Shut. Up. Their formation was pretty easy to decide, easily-annoyed-and-prone-to-violence 'Kuko out in front, keeping watch for bandits. Easily-annoyed-and-master-of-torture Sensei covering the rear. Far-more-patient-and-less-prone-to-violence 'Ku and 'Nai watching the sides in much closer proximity to the annoyance herself. But even their patience was pushed to the limits by the complaining of this girl. Especially the complaints about being protected by a group of girls younger than her. The kunoichi were actually glad when a trio of bandits attacked, so they could take out their frustrations on someone they were allowed to harm. The whiney bitch was quiet for a few blessed minutes when the burly men were taken out in seconds without Ibii-sensei lifting a finger, and the group basked in the silence while it lasted.

When they finally reached their destination and off-loaded their client to her father, the picture of the girl from the mission file was pinned to a tree and used for senbon target practice until all four were calm enough to return home without accidentally taking out their frustrations on the first poor soul they happened to run into.

*o*o*o*

 **Kunoichi - Female Ninja**

 **Ohayo - Good Morning**

 **Bentō - single person boxed meal, typically contains rice, meat or fish with cooked or pickled vegetables.**

 **Ki Nobori no Shugyō - Tree Climbing Practice**

 **Senbon - long thin needle-like weapons**

 **Again, really sorry for missing last month but exams are kind of more important than fanfiction *hides behind overturned table to avoid projectiles***

 **In exchange there will be another update, either later tonight if I can get it done in time, or tomorrow 'cause I've got nearly 2000 words already and I'm not even half-way through, but it's writing itself so I may be done by ridiculous-o'clock in the morning, which would technically be tomorrow but without sleeping I kinda still think of it as today.**

 **So, please review and see you later.**

 **Your cursing-university-for-large-workload-and-blessing-Costa-for-kicking-the-muse-into-gear-but-still-sleep-deprived Author**

 **Kouseki**

 **(P.S. Seriously, if I have writer's block I go to Costa and somehow can write again, it's really weird.)**


	6. Of Chūnin Exams

_Chapter 5 - Of Chūnin Exams_

A couple of years later, Ibiki-sensei deemed his students up to his lofty standards and ready for the Chūnin exams. He might of let them try at the last one if not for it being hosted by Kumogakure, with whom Konoha had rather rocky relations at present.

Thus it was party time at the Ogawa-Itō house, Izumo and Kotetsu, along with their teammate and sensei, were invited, as well as a girl named Mitarashi Anko and her team, who 'Ku had bonded with over stress relief in T&I every now and again, though the youngest girl subconsciously seemed to avoid Anko's sensei, Orochimaru, who just rubbed her the wrong way. 'Kuko was much more obvious, commenting to Anko that she had 'the creepiest sensei, ever' when the man was out of earshot.

The three teams gathered by the southern gate at dawn the next day, another team they didn't know very well appearing as well, ready for the trek to Sunagakure, where the exams were being held. 'Kuko made sure to gather all the gossip she could from the gate guard while they all waited for their sensei to appear.

The large group took to the trees, angling southwest at a quick but sustainable pace. That day passed in a buzz of quiet conversations, mostly discussing possible trials that might pop up in the exams. The group split up into their respective teams around mid-afternoon, in order to travel less conspicuously once they left Hi no Kuni's borders.

The next day, Team Ibiki took their typical formation for potentially hostile territory, 'Kuko was out in front as the best when it came to quick reactions and improvisation if suddenly attacked, 'Ku and 'Nai took the sides as the better chakra sensors, keeping watch for any enemies or unknowns and Ibiki-sensei covered the rear. They passed swiftly through Kawa no Kuni, the dense forest gradually thinning to grassland and an extensive network of rivers, eventually sparsening into sand dunes as they crossed into Kaze no Kuni. A well-hidden cave a short distance within the borders served as their night's shelter, being a commonly used rest spot for teams from Konoha that had to venture into the country. Team Orochimaru had beaten them there by a half hour or so and the other two teams appeared in quick succession shortly after nightfall.

If all had gone well, the Konoha shinobi would have arrived in Sunagakure with a week to spare before the first round of the exams. But since when did everything ever go to plan? Near enough everyone was going stir crazy after three days trapped in that cave by a particularly persistent sandstorm that picked up over that first night. Once the storm died down enough to move on, 'Kuko was the first out of the cave, sprinting a few metres before jogging round in little circles, to spend some of the excess energy that had built up, while she waited for the less hyperactive shinobi to get moving.

The teams finally reached Suna a little after nightfall, all of them relieved to be able to buy some juice to rehydrate, water being exceedingly expensive due to its scarcity in the desert and their own supplies had been rather strictly regulated to ensure they didn't run out on the way.

The next few days they were free to do what they liked with their time, thus 'Kuko dragged her teammates around the village to sight-see, somehow managing to integrate herself into a local gossip group which gave her easy access to pick up info on the other teams entered into the exams. Though she was just as interested in the civilian gossip such as the lady who owned the bakery supposedly cheating on her husband and the old, widowed man from the northern-most house being seen around with a pretty thing half his age.

Besides the sightseeing on that first day and the constant gossip gathering, Team Ibiki spent some time on light sparring just outside the village, not really showing anything they were capable of, in case of other teams spying - which they undoubtedly were - but getting used to the shifting sands as a surface and the lack of hiding places or easy places to sneakily trap. 'Ku in particular held back, making herself out as the weakest of the team, aided by the obvious age gap between her and the other two, to give them an advantage against other teams when they would need to fight.

The various teams gathered at a small training ground at the edge of the village at dawn for the first part of the exam, split into smaller groups for each village, the four teams from Konoha made up once of the larger groups, only smaller than the five Suna teams. Also present were three teas from Amegakure in Arashi no Kuni, two teams from Kusagakure in Kouba no Kuni and two teams from Takigakure in En no Kuni. Unsurprisingly there were no teams from Kumogakure, Iwagakure or Kirigakure, the Third Shinobi World War may have been over for a year but apart from Konoha and Suna's alliance, relations between the Five Great Shinobi Nations were still rather rocky.

A Suna Jōnin appeared in a swirl of sand, silencing the small, hushed conversations between the Genin.

"Ohayo Genin, I am Gōza, the proctor for the first section of your exam. A representative from each team will retrieve a list from me, your task is to find the items on the list and bring them here. If you are caught taking an item, you will be disqualified, if you fail to retrieve all the items within five hours, you will be disqualified, if you bring an incorrect item, you will be disqualified, if you attack any other team or civilian, you will be disqualified, your whole team must pass to move on to the next stage. The time will start one all teams have their list, you may not leave this training ground until that point or you will be disqualified. That is all." 'Kuko bounced over to the proctor, her teammates sighing over her excitability, she had been fretting the night before about the potential of a written exam and was all too relieved that it wasn't.

As soon as 'Begin.' left the proctor's mouth, the three sped away onto an isolated roof to hash out a strategy.

Chiyo-Bāsama's fishing rod

Fukuyama Takahiro's house keys

Takano Kohaku's amber necklace.

"Ooo, I know that Takahiro guy, he's always losing his house keys, he lives just over there, tends to go out in about an hour, he's a huge gossip so we tend to swap stories whenever we bump into one another, I could filch his keys easy if I catch him before he has a chance to lose them." And thus, 'Kuko proves an added use of her gossip network.

"Divide and conquer then, do you recognise any of the other names?" 'Ku inquired, her mind rapidly running through strategies to find the other individuals.

"I think Chiyo's an old recluse, lives up there with her brother, was a kunoichi so you'll need to hide your chakra and be really sneaky." 'Kuko pointed to the cliff side on the other side of the village.

"I'll head over there then, 'Ku-chan will have the best chance of finding the other target without getting caught but we'll keep our ears open for if someone mentions her." 'Nai rose to her feet, offering hands to yank the other two up. With a nod the three split to hunt down their targets.

*o*o*o*

'Nai walked carefully and silently up the stone steps to Chiyo's home, suppressing her chakra as much as possible to avoid detection, so long as she wasn't seen she should go unnoticed or mistaken for a small desert animal, such as a lizard, to a good sensor. Fortune favoured the eldest of the team as she easily found the fishing rod, left beside a small pond in the centre of the front room, with no sign of the two residents so early in the morning. She grabbed it and snuck back down to ground level before unmasking her presence and speeding away to blend in among the citizens, hiding the rod beneath the sand-coloured cloak all her team wore as camouflage in the terrain and as some protection against the sand when they had been travelling. She wandered absently, listening to conversations for mention of 'Ku's target.

*o*o*o*

"Ohayo, Hiro-san, not lost your keys yet, have you?" 'Kuko bounced over to her target from a market stand she had been browsing. The man laughed and returned the hug she had pounced on him for.

"Not yet, 'Kuko-chan, but I've only been out of the house ten minutes." They walked along slowly, glancing idly at the various stalls for anything that grabbed their attention, Takahiro pulling said keys from his pocket and jangling them at the girl in proof.

"Given you lose them inside your house, time outside doesn't necessarily mean anything but anyway, what's the latest with Ryū-chan and his evil Koko-oba?" 'Hiro rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at the first part before laughing at the second.

"You know she would kill you if you dared call her that to her face, but Ryū-kun graduates soon and is already planning on getting his own apartment once he does." One of the other examinees pushed their way through the slowly thickening crowds of the market, giving 'Kuko the perfect opportunity to pickpocket the required keys as she fell against 'Hiro, the man being the perfect gentleman as he steadied he and shouted at the Genin about manners.

"Thanks, 'Hiro-san, and it's good about Ryū-chan, he'll be better off on his own, though I'm sure he'll get plenty of care packages from the gossip-biddies, they all find him adorable. I really should get going though, the Chūnin exams start today after all." 'Kuko gave the man another hug and climbed onto the nearest rooftop, returning his parting wave as she reached her perch.

*o*o*o*

'Ku had a decidedly harder time of things, not knowing who to hunt for. She disguised herself with a flawless Henge, taking the form of a young woman in her twenties, leaving her eyes the same, putting her hair into a high ponytail and changing her clothes into similar styled robes as most people were wearing, and wandered the market, paying close attention to the jewellery stands. A young man, of similar age as her Henge, lightly bumped into her, luckily not hard enough to disrupt the Jutsu but caused him to drop the boxes he was carrying.

"Sorry, I must not have being paying enough attention to where I was going." 'Ku helped the man gather his boxes, thankfully none had opened to spill their contents across the street.

"No, no, it was my fault, can't see very well over these things, thanks for the help." The man bowed awkwardly over his boxes as the pair straightened up, all boxes recovered.

"Do you want some help getting these to their destination? I'm in no hurry." The girl smiled at the other's relieved acceptance, falling into step beside him as the moved on.

"So, were you looking for anything in particular or just browsing? Oh, and my name's Koji, probably should have introduced myself earlier but I tend to forget such things." He shifted a little awkwardly in embarrassment.

"Miku, nice to meet you. Actually, I was hoping to find an amber necklace for my sister's birthday, she has the most stunning golden eyes that it would match perfectly."

"You should talk to my wife, Kohaku, then. She has a beautiful amber necklace and could point you to where she got it, just round that corner to my house and you should at least stay for a cup of tea for your help." He indicated with an elbow from lack of hands.

"Really? That would be great." 'Ku grinned, three hours wandering the market and various streets with no luck had been grating on her patience.

"Kohaku, I'm back, and we have a guest." Koji deposited his boxes beside the front door, 'Ku placing hers on top, grinning a little as a small woman appeared from the kitchen and chewed out her husband for lack of advanced warning and 'the house is in no shape for visitors'. She sent him off to take the boxes upstairs and directed 'Ku into the kitchen for tea.

"Sorry about that, my husband can be so air-headed sometimes, here's your tea."

"Thank you, and I know the feeling, I've despaired with my sister many times for lack of forethought, though she's a lot better than she was." 'Ku sipped her tea and felt herself relax a little as the caffeine got to work.

"Oh, on that matter, would something like this be what you're looking for, for your sister?" The woman vanished into the next room while talking, appearing moments later with a small, open box with a silver and amber necklace inside. Half an hour later 'Ku made her excuses to leave, a swiped necklace in her pocket having left a Henge'd stone in its box.

The team met back at their original roof with an hour to spare and returned to the training ground to hand over their collection. Anko's team, two of the Suna teams and one of each Ame and Taki were already there, with another Suna team appearing soon after them. They settled down to wait, leaning on the cliff at the edge of the training ground, sheltering from the sun in its shadow. 'Kuko decided to take a quick nap, as nothing interesting was going on, using 'Nai's lap as a pillow and 'Ku's as a footrest.

By the end of the time, Izumo and Kotetsu's team had joined them and another Suna team, an Ame team and a Kusa team had also passed the round. A new Jōnin, named Ikanago, appeared with details for the next test.

"Your next test is survival, there is an old outpost two days southwest from here, you must go, retrieve a scroll from one of the Jōnin stationed there and return in no more than one week, with your whole team. You are permitted to fight in this round, so long as you only do so once outside the village. Death is a possibility so to continue you must all sign a liability waiver, it's not our fault if anything happens. You time starts once everyone has handed me a signed waiver. You have fifteen minutes." The various Genin scrambled into action, most grabbing a form and signing it without a glance before handing it in, while the smarter ones made sure to read it before signing, just in case.

As the last waiver was given in the teams scattered. Speed orientated teams quickly pulled ahead, heading for the only proper exit from the village and vanishing into the sands. Team Ibiki took the alternate route and ran up the cliff-face of the southwest edge of the village, taking advantage of the extra speed they could claim from the flat, rocky plateau at the top before they dropped to the sands on the other side. Their formation didn't really change with their lack of sensei, but they stayed closer together and instead of the two raven heads just keeping watch, 'Ku took the role of navigator, a mental map tracking a route to their destination, though taking into account the need for at least one stop each way to sleep, preferably at an oasis to refill their water supply. Barring the off-chance of getting trapped by another sandstorm or in quicksand, those would probably be the most dangerous parts of the test as an oasis would be the perfect location for a trap from another team, the open desert offering few location guaranteed to catch anyone.

They pushed themselves to the limit in order to get to their first oasis by nightfall. 'Nai got recon to check for other teams or traps and they were fortunate in lack of either. Though part of that could be from the fact there was a larger oasis, closer to Suna which n=most would have aimed for, hence why 'Ku chose to bypass it to reach this one instead. 'Kuko took first watch, a light but very warm blanket extracted from her pack to ward off the night's chill while 'Ku and 'Nai snuggled together, one of their cloaks beneath them, to try and reduce the amount of sand that could reach uncomfortable places, and the other on top for warmth.

Three hours later, 'Kuko and 'Nai switched places, 'Ku grumbling a little in her sleep as 'Nai moved away but settling again once 'Kuko replaced her. A little after the switch, another team appeared on the other side of the pool, but seemed content enough to leave them be. After another three hours 'Ku took over, one eye always on the unknown group while her other senses spread to cover the rest of their surroundings.

It was shortly before dawn when 'Ku woke the other two and neither complained when they left early after a quick breakfast, eager to put some distance between them and the other team, once again setting a hard pace to cover as much ground as possible.

Their good fortune lasted until late evening, when they reached the outpost. A Suna team was already there, blocking their way to the building and not keen on peacefully spending the night without conflict. Even worse, the team consisted of three boys, around thirteen or fourteen years old, who were under the mistaken impression that girls were weaker than them. In Konoha, very few held this illusion for long as almost everyone would get front row seats to Tsunade-hime beating Jiraiya at least once. Though since she'd left a year or so ago, the belief was beginning to reappear in some of the younger generations.

The boys' overconfidence would quickly become a handicap, especially as they fell into the trap the team had prepared before the start of the first exam, by deciding to focus on taking out 'Ku, the supposed 'weak link' in the team. 'Nai's Genjutsu had come a long way since the fragile constructs from when they began training under Ibiki-sensei, and it was laughably easy to give their overconfidence a boost as one boy distracted 'Kuko and the other two easily slipped past and 'killed' 'Ku. Cocky grins in place, the two boys turned to 'Nai, expecting a distraught little girl crying over her dead teammate. But the girl had disappeared, as had their teammate and the other girl he was fighting, leaving them alone with the cooling corpse. Which began to sink, as did they, quicksand pulling at them and there was no solid surface to get them out. Now there was something sharp digging into their guts, and the sand covered their heads, simultaneously drowning and suffocating them.

The third boy looked on in horror as his teammates suffocated in open air, their bellies sliced open by the 'weak' girls they should have easily overpowered. He froze, returning his gaze to his opponent as a kunai came to rest on his throat.

"You can take them, patch them up, maybe see if one of the Jōnin inside will help you. Try again next time and don't underestimate you opponent because they're female." 'Kuko withdrew her weapon at his nod and backed off, the other two girls joining her and 'Nai broke the Genjutsu as they walked into the building that marked the half-way point - distance-wise at least - of the second exam.

Fighting was prohibited within the building, so the team took the opportunity to sleep inside, allowing themselves to relax, though not completely, theft of opponents' supplies wasn't prohibited after all - a loophole they took full advantage of by filching the water supplies of anyone not clever enough to keep an eye on them.

Travel the next day was peaceful enough, with a much more relaxed pace than before, though still pretty quick, but their luck wasn't enough this time as the oasis they planned to stop at was already occupied and this team was less peaceful than the last they'd spent a night with, and much less overconfident that the Suna boys.

This team was from Ame, one girl and two boys. The girl, about thirteen, had red hair curled up into a high bun with two green hair pins holding it in place that matched the green of her eyes, a katana with green and grey cloth wrapping the hilt was strung across her back. The first boy, about twelve, had short, gingery-brown hair that spiked in all directions, and the same green eyes as the girl. The other boy, about thirteen, had very short, black hair and sky blue eyes. The red haired girl moved first, sword drawn and slashed towards 'Kuko in seconds. 'Ku darted forwards, grabbing the girl's attention to fight speed with speed and leaving 'Kuko to match strength to the stronger build of the older boy, while 'Nai and the gingery boy each kept one eye on each other and one eye on their teammates, creating a much more leisurely, spar-like, battle between them.

'Ku contentedly kept pace with the quick sword wielder but was somewhat hindered in retaliating by the lack of reach of her own weapons compared to the katana, projectiles being little use against the other's speed. The younger girl dodged another swipe from the katana, hands flashing through a series of hand seals with a murmur of 'Kanashibari no Jutsu'. The redhead froze as the Jutsu took hold and 'Ku took the opportunity to dart in close, slicing deeply into her opponent's right arm with a kunai, causing her to drop her sword.

The raven head danced out of reach as the paralysis wore off. The pair paused briefly as the dark haired Ame-nin flew between them, launched by a powerful kick from ''Kuko, quickly followed by a kunai with an exploding tag attached. The boy dodged, escaping with only light burns on his left leg as 'Kuko extracted a pair of Tekko-kagi from her pack and slid them onto her hands, changing after him.

The red haired girl swiftly grabbed her katana from the sand with her left hand, thrusting towards 'Ku, who sidestepped to the left of the sloppy attack but didn't see the kunai in the girl's other hand which caught her under the right eye. Her head unconsciously followed the kunai's trajectory, limiting the depth it could dig into and 'Ku spun her body with it, a kunai in her left hand lashing out at her opponent. The redhead pushed forward, away from the younger girl to escape the counter but failed to notice the senbon that followed, digging deep into her thigh, a little above the knee, which paralyzed her leg, sending her crashing to the sand.

'Kuko kept her opponent on the defensive, a continuous flurry of kicks and slashes giving him little time to launch an effective counter-offense, however his defence was good, letting very few hits connect, and even those that did were deflected enough to limit the damage caused. She used a final kick to push herself away, and the pair paused, assessing each other for weaknesses. The brunette's hands flashed through a few hand seals, long hours of practice preventing her tekko-kagi from knocking each other as she did so, and vanished into the sand with a murmured 'Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu'.

The Ame-nin scanned the surroundings for any sign of her but instead noticed his female teammate disable with 'Ku quickly closing in. He abandoned his search and sped over, deflecting 'Ku's attack at the last moment and unrelentingly attacking to prevent her from reaching his downed teammate. Said kunoichi took the opportunity to yank out the senbon, grimacing at the sting, and rose, taking a few moments for her leg to recover from the paralysis, before joining the dark haired shinobi in his assault on the youngest girl.

'Ku pushed away from the pair trying to pincer attack her, using her speed to escape and put distance between her opponents as they followed at differing speeds. Just as the redhead reached her, 'Kuko's hand rose from the sand, slashing through the dark haired boy's Achilles tendon and disappearing down again. The Ame-nin fell, hands ineffectively breaking his fall as they sunk into the sand and 'Kuko's other hand punched up from underground, claws digging straight through the boy's throat, before they were yanked back and vanished beneath the sand once more.

'Nai took the opportunity, presented by her and 'Ku's opponents' distraction due to their teammate's death, to hide 'Ku within a Genjutsu, returning her attention to her foe as the moment passed and an avenging rage added a vicious edge to his attacks.

'Ku wasted no time, knowing the female redhead wouldn't be deceived for long, and sped behind her, stabbing a kunai deep into the back of her neck and wrenching it to the right, severing the spinal cord and external jugular vein. 'Kuko popped out of the sand behind the remaining Ame-nin, claws slashing at him but the boy dodged, throwing a kunai which lodged itself deep into the girl's side. However, he failed to keep track of 'Nai while evading 'Kuko and she gets behind him, the ring end of a kunai crashing into his temple, knocking him out.

'Ku shuffled over, exhaustion pulling at her limbs and sat on the sand by 'Kuko, dragging the older girl with her, to check over her injury. She gathered healing chakra into one hand, then yanked the embedded kunai out with the other, without warning and pressed on the wound, hard, with her chakra-encased hand.

"Gah. A little warning would be nice, 'Ku-chan." 'Kuko sat stiffly while her friend worked, watching as 'Nai tied up the surviving Ame-nin with steel wire, leaving him in a relatively sheltered spot and began setting up camp.

"It's too deep for me to heal all the way but I've done what I can and stopped the bleeding. However, you are going to get as much rest as you can, we can take care of keeping watch without you, and I'll check you again in the morning." 'Ku glared, in full medic-mode, until the older girl nodded in acquiescence, rolling her eyes at the cheeky grin and salute that accompanied it.

The night, thankfully, passed with no incident, and 'Kuko groaned as she woke to her injured side being prodded by 'Ku.

"Well, you'll live, but we'll take it easy today and tomorrow, there's not another oasis on our route though so we'll just have to make do, we've got plenty of water so it shouldn't be problem. Here, breakfast. She trust a ration pack at the brunette and rose, dismantling the small camp and erasing the traces of their presence. 'Nai helped 'Kuko sort herself out with the least strain on her injury as possible while 'Ku wandered over to the survivor of the previous day's fight, who glared rather heatedly at her approach.

"Stop glaring, you look like a pouting kitten when compared to a pissed off Uchiha and I've long since become immune to their glares. Now you have two options. One, we leave you tied up here and wish you luck when we leave. Two, you can come with us, still tied up, I'm not stupid, but it gives you a better chance of survival and we'll direct your sensei back here once we get to Suna to retrieve the fallen. Your choice." 'Ku stared impassively, showing she really didn't care either way.

"I'll come, I don't see myself with much of a chance left behind." The Ame-nin grumbled, unhappy but resigned.

"Wonderful. Eat." 'Ku smiled, holding a piece of bread in front of the boy's mouth, only smiling wider when he stared at her with a raised eyebrow which questioned her sanity. He sighed, realising he wasn't going to be released, even a little to feed himself, and ate, resisting the urge to glare again.

The group set off at a light jog, 'Kuko's injury making things easier for their captive as their pace stayed fairly slow. 'Ku had point, constantly sensing for the presence of other teams and diverting their path to avoid confrontation. With nightfall the youngest was able to use the stars to correct their course from where they had drifted slightly due to diversions, and they settled down to sleep on the open sands, 'Kuko taking her turn at watch as well this time.

The next day was much the same, though the beginnings of a sandstorm started to creep up on them as they got close to Sunagakure, so they upped the pace to ensure they escaped it, entering the village slightly after nightfall to the sight of their sensei waiting for them.

"'Ki-Sensei!" 'Kuko forgot about her injury and sped over, glomping the Jōnin in exuberant greeting. 'Nai decided to keep an eye on their captive, motioning for 'Ku to deal with the excitable brunette before she did herself any more damage.

The appearance of the Ame-nin's sensei sent 'Ku and 'Nai into diplomat mode as they handed him over and gave the location of the others' bodies. The team was glad to finally collapse into bed in the hotel room they were renting for the duration of the exams.

The next day they permitted themselves a lie in 'til mid-morning before 'Ku finished healing 'Kuko's wound, allowing the hyperactive girl to return to her gossip-gathering, though she started by apologising to Takahiro for stealing his keys, even if it was for the sake of the exam. 'Ku did the same for Kohaku and Koji, who were quite surprised at how young she really was when she passed so easily as the same age as them. When 'Nai attempted to apologise to Chiyo, she ended up suffering through a lecture on respecting her elders and got whacked a few times round the head with the fishing rod. Though she did leave with her apology, grudgingly, accepted as Chiyo muttered about her being 'better than most disrespectful youths, these days'. The rest of that day was spent relaxing however they wanted, 'Ku somehow got roped into giving the Kazekage's, two and a half year old, daughter, Temari, speedy piggy back rides across the village's rooftops, the little girl giggling gleefully as the wind rushed through her hair while the Genin made certain to be extra careful that no harm came to her, especially with the number of eyes she could feel watching her every move.

The next day they spent training with each other and Team Orochimaru who had arrived the afternoon before. At eleven o'clock the day after, they gathered back at the starting ground to wait the last half hour of the round's time, giving their scroll to Ikanago, the second exam's proctor, before they were permitted to enter. Six teams of the ten that had started the round passed, two from Suna, one Ame, 1 Kusa and the two Konoha. Izumo and Kotetsu had got back late the night before but had lost their teammate in a fight, so couldn't continue.

"Congratulations, you know how to survive." A new Jōnin Shunshin'd in front of them in a swirl of sand, commenting dryly.

"I am Yashamaru, the proctor for the last exam, the first part of which shall occur tomorrow, two hours after dawn. The exam consists of tournament-style battles. Tomorrow you shall compete as a team, thereafter the fights are solo. Dismissed." Most teams split off to train for the rest of the day, though Team Ibiki instead chose to conserve their strength and spy on the other teams, in order to hash out the beginnings of strategies for each as they didn't yet know which would be their opponent.

*o*o*o*

The first match was Team Orochimaru against one of the Suna teams. 'Kuko was quite happy to take a nap, knowing that 'Ku would be examining their abilities and keeping a mental not on who to particularly look out for in future rounds. Team Orochimaru won fairly easily, obviously on a different level to the Suna team, and Team Ibiki was called next, to fight the team from Kusagakure. The team was composed of two boys - one had short, spiky, light brown hair and murky blue eyes with a katana slung across his back, the other had short, but flat, blond hair, dark brown eyes and a pair of wakizashi on his left side - and a girl - who had shoulder length black hair and light brown eyes with a kusarigama at her side, the long chain curled into a thick loop.

'Nai took note of their automatic formation, with the two boys in front and the girl behind, and slid from her place on 'Kuko's left to between her and 'Ku, whispering a plan at which they nodded, moving forward to mirror their enemy's formation, 'Ku opposite the katana wielder, 'Kuko opposite the wakizashi wielder and 'Nai a little behind in the middle. A moment later, Yashamaru called for them to begin, and the two boys wasted no time in rushing the girls opposite them. 'Kuko pulled out a pair of kunai and caught the blond's blows, testing his speed with twisting counterattacks, as the strength of the blows wasn't particularly great, which he fairly easily kept up with.

'Ku also used a kunai to catch her opponent's blows, easily noticing the lack of speed compared to the blond, so tested the strength he placed in his attacks, for now keeping her speed below 'Kuko, as it was unnecessary, though the heavy blows she caught jarred her arms and she grit her teeth, bearing it with the mental fortitude she had developed from the couple of years learning under 'Ki-Sensei. 'Ku dodged to the left, barely avoiding the Kusa-kunoichi's kusarigama that appeared above her with her reduced speed and quickly back-flipped away from the katana wielder's following strike. 'Nai sent a small barrage of senbon across the arena, forcing the kunoichi to concentrate on defence instead of assisting her teammate against 'Ku.

The blond Kusa-nin upped his speed, ducking through 'Kuko's defence, though he only manged a shallow slice on her left arm as she kicked his blade, deflecting the strike and pushing herself back. She quickly dropped her kunai to make some hand seals - Tora, U, I, Inu - muttering 'Doton: Doryūheki', and spat out earth, making a wall in front of her which spread a few metres to each side, forcing 'Ku and her opponent apart as well. The two girls ran towards each other, grabbing the other's hand to yank themselves to their destinations and each other in the opposite direction, swapping opponents before the wall fell. The wakizashi wielder laughed as he saw his new foe.

"Seriously? You really think your sluggish movements can keep up with me when the other broad couldn't?" 'Ku gave a small, amused smile and dashed forward, not showing her full speed but easily faster than the blond had shown thus far, ducking under his defence and slipped up close, stabbing a kunai into his right shoulder, still with that smile on her face as she kicked him in the chest, knocking him back and propelling herself away before he could retaliate.

The kusarigama wielder again sent a high strike at 'Ku, a pair of kunai flying straight and to the left, forcing her to dodge right, towards the katana wielder, before 'Nai attacked again, dragging the enemy kunoichi's attention back to her. The brown haired boy had just sent a short Hitei Mushō at 'Kuko, who had dodged the small nails but was knocked a good distance away by the strong kick that followed the moment she landed from her dodge. He then slashed at 'Ku as she dodged towards him.

The girl quickly spun to face him, catching the blade in the ring of her kunai and she placed a hand on his shoulder, using it as a vaulting platform to flip over his head. She kept a tight hold of her kunai and wrenched the katana from the Kusa-nin's grasp, sending it flying towards the arena wall, landing back to back with her opponent. 'Ku spun to the right to stab into the boy's left shoulder but he was already turning, to his right, and he used his right hand to backhand the smaller girl, sending her sprawling in the sand back towards 'Nai.

Before the Kusa-nin could follow up, 'Kuko dashed in front of him, slashing at him with her tekko-kagi, which she had donned when she had recovered her footing after his kick, dodging out of the way of another burst of small nails while he ran to retrieve his katana. As she did so, the blond Kusa-nin recovered his feet, yanking out the kunai 'Ku had left in is shoulder, and sped over to attack 'Ku from the left before she could regain her feet. The youngest rolled to avoid him, jumping back to her feet and leant back to avoid the flurry of projectiles that were flying between 'Nai and the kusarigama wielder.

The raven haired girl used Sōshūjin, releasing chakra from her hands as she grabbed ten kunai, leaving them floating in an upwards arc around her. She sent them flying, aiming at a spot behind the blond, so they wouldn't fly into each other before hitting him and, being more spread out, would be harder to dodge. She also clapped her hands with a murmured 'Fūton: Rappūshō', sending a powerful blast of wind after the kunai, severely increasing their speed. He managed to avoid four of the kunai and deflect another five but the last dug into his thigh to the hilt, unfortunately causing a mere flesh wound, not debilitating enough to make a lot of difference bar a small reduction in his speed.

The Kusa-nin sped through some seals - I, Inu, Tori, Saru, Hitsuji - and swiped his hand through the blood running down his leg, placing it on the sand with a call of 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'. A swarm of black butterflies with electric blue spots on their wings appeared in a puff of smoke, all flying at 'Ku to distract her while the boy removed the kunai, quickly and tightly binding the wound to limit further damage and blood loss.

'Ku spun quickly, a kunai in each hand, slicing through more and more butterflies with each revolution until only a few remained, dismissing themselves in small puffs of smoke.

The katana wielder lunged at 'Kuko but his blade was caught by her left claws while she countered with her right. While exchanging blows 'Kuko ended up with her back to the Kusa-kunoichi and noticed too late when her kusarigama came flying from the side, thus couldn't dodge fully, gaining a shallow slice curling around her left hip, not deep enough to really worry about but a painful annoyance none-the-less.

'Nai focused on the pair ganging up on 'Kuko and murmured 'Jikan Chien no Jutsu', knocking their perception a few seconds back from real time, allowing 'Ku to easily escape from their delayed attacks.

The wakizashi wielder formed a Kage Bunshin and attacked 'Ku from left and right simultaneously. She dropped into a low spinning kick, knocking both off their feet and rose, bouncing over the low slice he sends in retaliation. As the pair rose to attack again, the girl performed Hikari no Kyūtai, forming a barrage of small orbs of light which fired at the boy and his clone, who tried to dodge, several glancing the clone with one impacting into its chest, causing it to disperse in a puff of smoke. A couple of the orbs impact on the shinobi's legs, severely burning them, thus hindering future movement.

'Kuko took advantage of 'Nai's Genjutsu to spit a Dorosandan at the Kusa katana wielder's eyes, the mud blinding him when he couldn't dodge. Meanwhile, 'Nai sent a barrage of kunai towards the other black haired kunoichi, who managed to accidentally block most of them when she swipes her kusarigama at 'Kuko. Upon feeling the pain of the impacting kunai while still seeing them in flight, she noticed the Genjutsu and broke it with Genjutsu Kai.

'Kuko ducked behind the katana wielder, avoiding his blind slashes and swiped her claws through his Achilles tendons on both ankles and kicked him face down into the sand, yanking his arms behind his back and tying them tightly with steel wire, effectively removing him as a threat.

With one enemy dealt with, 'Nai's plan could be properly set into action and 'Kuko darted in to attack their female opponent, dragging her attention away from 'Nai. The Kusa-kunoichi formed a Tora seal and used Suiton: Teppōdama, spitting high speed balls of condensed water at 'Kuko to keep her at a distance. With the black haired girl suitably distracted, 'Nai concentrated on a new Genjutsu, Magen: Jubaku Satsu. She vanished like mist, to the enemy's sight, and snuck in close before the technique truly kicked in and the Kusa-kunoichi was suddenly immobilised by an illusionary tree rapidly growing around her.

'Ku and the wakizashi wielder exchanged, relatively, fast blows, the blond's speed hindered by his burns and 'Ku's hindered by a lucky shot he had snuck in from behind by using Kawarimi with a kunai she had dodged. 'Kuko appeared behind the blond, as the other opponent was under control, and the boy dodged but lost track of ''Ku, allowing her to slip the ring end of a kunai around one of his swords, twisting it sharply against a weak spot and breaking the blade. He backs away from the pair, keeping both in his sights but this allowed the girls to launch a pincer attack. The boy caught 'Ku's kunai with his broken wakizashi and one of 'Kuko's claws with the unbroken, but 'Kuko holds the blade still, using her other claws to break it as well. 'Ku holds a kunai, in her other hand, to the boy's throat, 'Nai doing the same with her captive and the Kusagakure team surrenders, with no way out of their predicament.

When Team Ibiki was called as the winner, 'Nai dropped her Genjutsu and stowed her kunai, gathering all the thrown weapons that littered the arena's floor - though some senbon were left unaccounted for, lost within the sand - 'Kuko removed her tekko-kagi and went to untie the brown haired Kusa-nin, also removing the mud from his eyes, while 'Ku did what she could to heal his ankles until the Iryō-nin arrived to take care of him, after which she concentrated on the, fairly minor, injuries her own team had sustained.

They lingered back in the stands with 'Ki-Sensei for the last fight - the other Suna team and the Ame one - again for the purpose of judging abilities while 'Kuko napped.

Once the Suna team won, 'Ku poked her friend awake as Yashamaru told them that the solo matches would be held in two weeks' time at eight o'clock in the morning, if they were late, they were disqualified.

And so the team trained, spending most of their waking time sparring and practicing a few higher ranked Jutsu they had either started working on or at learnt the theory of before leaving for Suna.

*o*o*o*

At a little after seven, Team Ibiki was the first team to arrive at the arena, though already the stands were rapidly filling with spectators, and they made their way to the smallish section that was reserved for the competitors and their sensei. 'Ku brought out her flask of green tea, giving a cup to each of the other three and thanked Kami-sama that you couldn't be disqualified for the consumption of caffeine before the fights.

'Nai ended up with the dubious honour of going first, her opponent one of the Suna-nin, a roughly thirteen year old boy with short, flat, black hair and light brown eyes, no obvious specialised weapon.

The Suna-nin moved first with Fūton: Rasen Kazedama, sending a fast ball of spinning wind at 'Nai, quickly followed by a barrage of kunai. The girl barely dodged the Jutsu and deflected the kunai with her own. She stomped on the sand with a whispered 'Shinkirō', and a whirl of pink leaves surrounded her, soon causing her to vanish as a pink mist enveloped the arena. She took advantage of her disappearance and used Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu, which she had bugged 'Kuko to teach her in the previous fortnight, tunnelling underground to remain hidden even if her Genjutsu was dispelled.

The black haired boy did just that with a whispered 'Kai', scowling when his opponent wasn't revealed, so he used Ressenpū and spun in a circle, sending a powerful stream of wind across the arena in all directions, expecting the girl would be there somewhere and get revealed when hit by the wind. His scowl turned to confusion when nothing happened past the piling of sand at the edges of the area as it was pushed away from his position. 'Nai dug her way underneath the Suna-nin and created another Magen: Jubaku Satsu from there, rising behind the boy once he was immobilised and held a kunai in each hand, one across his throat, the other perilously close to his family jewels.

The boy cursed but surrendered quickly enough when 'Nai added a little pressure, her chin on his shoulder where he could just see the serene smile on her face as she did so.

'Nai returned to her place in the stands, sharing a grin with 'Ku, while 'Kuko was practically cackling. Once the sand had been returned to a flat surface, the next fight was called, 'Ku against Anko.

Silence covered the stadium as the two girls stood opposite each other, both in battle-ready stances but waiting for the other to make the first move. Anko broke the tableau with hand seals. 'Katon: Kaen Senpū', a spiralling blaze erupted around the purple haired girl and with an, almost lazy, hand movement, she sent the flames spinning after 'Ku. The younger girl dodged, but Anko just waved the flames after her, so 'Ku ran in circles around the other, forcing Anko to spin on the spot to keep the flames chasing her. Each circle became smaller than the last until 'Ku was close enough to get behind the older girl with an extra burst of speed, kicking the back of her knee.

Anko lurched forward, disrupting her Jutsu and spun around, kunai in hand, stabbing towards 'Ku's side. The raven haired girl dodged back and gathered wind chakra into her right hand, releasing it as a slicing wave with a swipe of that hand across her body and a murmured 'Jūha Shō'. Anko ducked under the blue chakra wave and dashed closer, hands forming the Mi then Tora seals then punched at 'Ku, despite not being close enough to actually make contact.

"Sen'eijashu." About six large snakes erupted from the large sleeve of Anko's coat, mouths gaping to reveal long fangs. 'Ku dodged away, kunai slicing through the snakes' necks as she went and grabbed ten kunai, spreading them in an arc, around her waist, in front of her with Sōshūjin, letting them fly straight at that level towards Anko. The older girl watched their trajectory, ready to jump when they got close enough, but failed to notice 'Ku repeating the action moments after the first group of kunai flew, this batch aimed higher up to where she predicted Anko would be when she jumped.

The strategy worked perfectly, though 'Ku's aim was a little off, so Anko was left with slices on her right arm and side from glancing shots and a kunai buried deep in her abdomen. She quickly ran through some hand seals - Tora, Uma, Ne, Inu, Tora - with a shout of 'Katon: Benijigumo', spitting out fire that formed into a ring that circled 'Ku, also forming a spider out of the flames that attacked the younger girl. While 'Ku was occupied, Anko yanked out the kunai in her abdomen, former a Tora seal and exhaled a weak Katon: Karyūdan to seal the wound.

'Ku dodged the flame-spider's attacks, darting swiftly around the small space she had and once by the edge Anko was on the opposite side of, she released another Jūha Shō, the wind chakra picking up fir from the wall, amplifying it as it flew towards the purple head. Anko released the Benijigumo as she flattened herself on the sand to avoid the flaming arc of wind chakra.

'Ku dashed forward, kunai in hand, stabbing out at the downed girl who kicked at the attacking hand and blew a stronger Karyūdan at her. The raven haired girl dodged back and flashed through some hand seals - Ne, Mi, Uma, Inu - before spinning while exhaling wind chakra into a sharp, circular blade around her which blew outwards, amplifying Anko's flames as it blew them back at her.

The elder girl dodged as she cut off the Jutsu, cursing when the tallest spikes of her ponytail set alight and quickly extinguished the small flames. She bit into her thumb and placed her hand flat on the sand, summoning several, roughly twelve foot long, blue snakes which darted swiftly across the sand. 'Ku hurriedly swiped a Jūha Shō, beheading all but one of the approaching reptiles, which wrapped itself around her body, knocking her kunai from her hand, and preventing escape, though her hands stuck out between the coils with just enough movement available for hand seals.

Not wanting to give the younger girl time to escape, Anko dashed forwards, kunai at the ready. 'Ku formed the Mi seal and focused wind chakra into her fallen kunai, "Fūton: Suiran Reppū." The kunai glowed blue with chakra and flew over the snake's head, then stabbed down, slicing through all its coils on the way down, freeing 'Ku from its tightening embrace.

The girl scurried away from the dying snake and caught Anko's wrist as she attacked but the older girl kicked her in the gut, sending her flying into the wall of the stadium. 'Ku regained her feet, leaning against the wall for support while she pushed aside the daze that had appeared from hitting her head to hard but these precious moments gave Anko time to approach and send more poisonous snakes from a Sen'eijashu at her.

"Jūha Reppū Shō." 'Ku thrust her hand forward, sending forth a giant demonic claw of wind chakra, which sliced easily though the approaching snakes and slammed into Anko, too fast to avoid, thrusting her across the stadium, into the opposite wall and cracking her head against it. The older girl barely clung to consciousness and summon several small brown snakes to attack 'Ku, a couple of which slipped beneath the sand to remain unnoticed.

'Ku wasn't in a much better state than Anko, having exhausted most of her chakra on that last, powerful, Jutsu, but she still managed to defend herself with a kunai, at least from the snakes she could see above ground, the pair that approached from below slipped past her defence and bit deep into the girl's legs, releasing a painful poison into her bloodstream. 'Ku quickly decapitated the snakes, but the damage was done and she surrendered, knowing that any time wasted before the poison was removed or she was given an antidote could allow it to cause irreparable damage.

A group of Iryō-nin sped into the ring, half heading for Anko to fix her up for the second battle she would have to fight later in the day, while the other half went to 'Ku to see what they could do for the poison. Had 'Ku been less exhausted, she probably would have tried to flee when Orochimaru-Sensei approached with the antidote, something about him just creeped her out which really said something considering the amount of time she spent working in T&I.

Both girls were ordered to take it easy, 'Ku for the next few days, though she would be permitted to watch the rest of the matches so long as she didn't strain herself, Anko for the time until her next fight, commanded to nap if she could. The pair supported each other back to their seats, each congratulating the other for a good fight with promises to spar again in the future. Despite the lack of hard feelings between them, 'Kuko levelled Anko with an impressive glare for daring to hurt her best friend.

The next battle was between a Suna kunoichi with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and green eyes and one of Anko's teammates, a boy with spiky brown hair, dark eyes and large round glasses. 'Nai kept an eye on the fight to judge their abilities while 'Kuko hovered by 'Ku's side, unused to the younger girl being the, relatively, seriously injured one.

Due to the odd number of combatants, the final fight of the round was a three-way free-for-all between 'Kuko, the other Suna-nin - a girl with long sky blue hair in a high ponytail and green eyes - and Anko's other teammate - a Hyūga with long brown hair in a high ponytail.

The moment the start was called, 'Kuko dashed towards the Suna-kunoichi, grabbing her wrists as she tried to attack and leant close to whisper without the Hyūga overhearing, who seemed happy enough to stay out of the way as if to let the two girls fight and pick off the winner afterwards.

"Ok, calm down. I propose a truce until we get rid of the Hyūga, think fast, yes or no?" The two girls stood motionless, 'Kuko staring intently, trying to convey the sincerity of her off.

"Why?"

"Because any Byakugan wielder is a pain in the ass to fight one on one unless you're a strict Taijutsu specialist who doesn't really use chakra, so do we have a deal?" The other girl agreed and the pair parted then turned to their other opponent. The Suna-kunoichi darted forth, speed greater than 'Kuko's though the brunette could tell her speed didn't come close to 'Ku's, so should be should fairly easy to manage once the Hyūga was dealt with.

While the blue haired girl distracted the boy, 'Kuko moulded chakra - Ne, Mi, Tora - and created a wave of earth with Doton: Doryūha. The wave surged towards the fighting pair and 'Kuko had it branch off to either side , curling around 'til it hit the arena walls to trap them within the smaller area. The Suna-kunoichi formed a few Suna Bunshin to join her in attacking the boy from several sides simultaneously. The Hyūga activated his Byakugan and responded with Shōtei, striking at the chests of the bunshin with the heel of his palms and pushing chakra into them to return them to sand, the real kunoichi dodging out of reach after the first bunshin fell.

While the boy was distracted, 'Kuko spat a Dorosandan at his feet, the chakra infused mud sticking him in place. The Suna-kunoichi raised her fist away from her body with a murmured 'Saganken' and sand rose to her hand, solidifying into a katana made of sandstone. The Hyūga raised his hands next to each other and used Hakke Kūhekishō to release a powerful wave of chakra from his palms, knocking the girl into the wall, where she took a few moments to shake off her daze.

'Kuko sent another Dorosandan, this time aimed at the boy's nose and mouth to suffocate him, but he repeated his attack, repelling the mud and almost knocking 'Kuko off her wall as she dodged the wave of chakra using Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu. The blue haired girl, having regained her wits formed a multitude of Suna Bunshin to attack from all sides with the opponent unable to escape, while 'Kuko emerged from her wall at ground level forming the Tori seal for Doton: Doryūsō, which condensed the stone of her wall and shot it as stalagmite-like spikes at the Hyūga.

The boy was unable to dodge the earth spikes and couldn't repel them while dealing with the bunshin, so was speared through each limb, the force pushing him out of the mud trap and pinning him to the area wall. 'Kuko ran along one of the spikes and bashed the boy over the head with the ring end of a kunai to knock him and left him pinned in place while she threw a few kunai towards her other opponent.

The Suna-kunoichi dashed towards 'Kuko's wall with the Hitsuji seal formed and slid through it with Hyōmengakure no Jutsu, 'Kuko following with the simpler technique of just running up to the top of the wall. She formed a Tora seal and used the stone of her wall to create a river of mud with Doton: Doryū Taiga, immediately followed by Doton: Doryūdan - Hitsuji, Uma, Tatsu - which created a dragon head from the mud which spat balls of mud at the Suna-kunoichi. The bluenette used her Saganken to form a shield in her off-hand to block those shots she couldn't dodge and 'Kuko jumped down to ground level, instantly sinking into the sand with Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu.

With 'Kuko no longer supplying chakra, the dragon head sunk beck into the river of mud, allowing the Suna-kunoichi to still, taking the moment of peace to form three Suna Bunshin and the four stood back to back, not allowing their opponent the opportunity to sneak up behind them.

Unfortunately for her, 'Kuko didn't need to rise to attack, she burrowed down through the sand until she reached rock, several metres down. She placed her hands on the stone, muttering 'Doton: Ishi Kasui', causing the stone underneath the Suna-kunoichi and her bunshin to surge up at tall spikes, which speared through all the bunshin and glanced the original as she tried to dodge, leaving a deep slice through her left side.

'Kuko slid om her tekko-kagi as she moved through the sand , rising towards her opponent. She let her hand rise above the sand alone, slashing at the girl's ankles and she fell as her feet became unusable. 'Kuko's head rose just above the Suna-kunoichi's, one set of claws resting lightly across her throat. The bluenette glared but accepted her defeat and surrendered. The brunette lifted herself back onto ground level, placing her first aid pack under the girl's chin so she could take her weight off her arms without either getting a face-full of sand or rolling her onto her back and forced sand into her wounds. 'Kuko then darted over to her stone wall and dismantled it, catching the, still unconscious, Hyūga when he was released from the spikes which held him up and handed him over to the Iryō-nin. She then bounced back to her place in the stands, Ibiki-Sensei telling her not to get a big head while 'Nai and 'Ku congratulated her.

There was an hour break before the next round commenced, in which most people had, a rather late, lunch, while gossiping about the various battles they'd seen, filling in late-comers on the earlier fights they'd missed and commenting on who they expected to advance to Chūnin from what they'd seen. 'Kuko found her shoulder being used as pillow while 'Ku napped, finally allowing her exhaustion to take hold as she needn't worry over her teammates for a while. Though her nap only lasted for that break as the first fight of the second round was 'Kuko vs. 'Nai.

As the pair descended to the arena, they shook hands with a 'no hard feelings, whoever wins' agreement. Before they started, 'Kuko pulled on her tekko-kagi, knowing well enough there would be no winning by holding back in the beginning, the pair had sparred against each other often enough no to be fooled into thinking the other was any weaker than they really were.

'Kuko took the first move by spitting out a Doton: Doryūheki and sliding underground with Moguragakure. 'Nai responded with Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu, creating the illusion of a Konoha-esque forest. The surroundings were insubstantial, so the pair couldn't have a treetop battle as they'd prefer, or use any of the surroundings for Jutsu but the trees could still be used as hiding places, if necessary.

'Nai stood still, all senses aware to find where 'Kuko would pop up, her ability to pinpoint such by vibrations through the sand, unfortunately limited. 'Kuko slowly slid though the sand, careful not to assist 'Nai in locating her by making large vibrations from movements that even she would detect, and set a few exploding tags underneath the other girl's feet, burrowing away much faster so as not to be caught up in the explosion herself. 'Nai noticed the signs of 'Kuko moving away from her and dodged backwards just as the explosion went off, barely catching her left foot, leaving it with mild burns.

'Kuko rose in front of the black haired girl, claws slashing towards her, driving her to dodge back further, closer to the arena wall. 'Nai knew better that to let herself get trapped with her back to a wall and grabbed the brunette's right hand as it approached, pulling 'Kuko forward and spinning them around to slam the other girl into the wall, kunai in her other hand to attack. 'Kuko reacts swiftly, dodging away from the kunai with the Tori seal formed, using the arena wall to shoot stone spikes at 'Nai with Doton: Doryūsō.

'Nai jumped back, dodging away from the spikes with the brunette following, claws flashing and the pair exchanged a flurry of blows from claws and kunai, each inflicting superficial slices on the other but nothing that would really bother them. Despite the current stalemate, 'Nai knew that she could not match her teammate's stamina and used Shinkirō to back off and form a Kage Bunshin. 'Kuko slid underground, the Genjutsu may have stolen her sight but she could still feel the vibrations of movement through the sand and from there it was safe to focus on her Genjutsu Kai, before she dove down to the stone layer beneath the sand, using Ishi Kasui beneath 'Nai's feet.

The black haired girl and her bunshin dodged the emerging spikes, pushing off another and channelling chakra to their hands and feet to cling to the edge of the first dodged spikes in order to avoid the others that rose in a six foot radius from their position. Once the movement ceased, the pair hopped from spike to spike and the bunshin dropped back onto the sand at the edge of the Jutsu's influence, while the original remained perched on one of the outermost spikes.

'Kuko appeared behind the bunshin, stabbing at the back of the neck but was dodged and received a thrown kunai aimed at her face in retaliation, which the brunette deflected. The real 'Nai pushed off her spike towards 'Kuko while her bunshin attacked from the other side. The brunette deflected the bunshin's attack while kicking the original away, with enough force that, had she been the bunshin, she would have dispersed. With the lack of smoke as that 'Nai went flying, 'Kuko knew the one in front of her was the bunshin and stabbed forcefully into its chest, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke.

"Now I'm hurt, that was quite the vicious stab you gave me 'Kuko-chan." 'Nai pouted at her teammate as she got back to her feet from the heap she'd landed in after that kick.

"Don't take it too personally, 'Nai-chan, I knew it was the fake." 'Kuko grinned in response, spitting a Dorosandan at the other girl's eyes while she remained stationary. The black haired girl dodged the flying mud and used Jikan Chien no Jutsu but 'Kuko wasn't about to let 'Nai have a Genjutsu advantage so burrowed down again for another 'Kai'. She popped up behind 'Nai and kicked her, the other girl spun as she fell and slashed at 'Kuko's leg, thankfully for the brunette not cutting in too deep.

"Kuso, you trying to take my foot off or something?" 'Kuko hopped back and gingerly tested her weight on the injured limb, satisfied when it wouldn't hinder her too much. 'Nai gave her an innocent smile that said 'Would I do such a thing?' as she flipped back onto her feet. 'Kuko simply retaliated with Doton: Doryūha and rode the wave of earth after 'Nai as she fled, laughing at the glower that was painted across the brunette's face. She used the wave to trap 'Nai, as she had the Hyūga, and jumped down to join her teammate in the small enclosure.

'Nai quickly formed her hand seals - Ne, I, Tora - and summoned a flock of crows with Sanzengarasu no Jutsu, then began scaling the walls to escape her friend's trap. 'Kuko tore through the crows with claws and, getting annoyed at the number, used Doton: Doryūsō to spear them. The last crows vanished when 'Nai got stabbed through the stomach with one of the spikes.

'Kuko froze in panic at the thought of causing her friend serious harm and cancelled her Jutsu, catching 'Nai as she fell and spouting an endless stream of apologies as she was announced the winner. 'Ku suddenly appeared at her side, having dragged herself down from her seat and gently pulled 'Kuko away, allowing the Iryō-nin to do their job while she calmed the brunette down. Which only really worked once the medics had verified that 'Nai would be fine, though confined to the hospital for a couple of days. The Horror!

The last fight of the day was Anko against the Suna-nin that had beaten her teammate. Due to the lateness when that battle ended, the final was scheduled for the next day. Thus Ibiki-Sensei dragged 'Ku and 'Kuko back to their hotel room and forced them to sleep, rather than spend the night with 'Nai in the hospital, especially as 'Kuko had to fight again.

*o*o*o*

It was mid-morning the next day, when the final began, 'Kuko reassured of 'Nai's wellbeing after a visit earlier so she could concentrate on her fight instead of worrying.

Anko took the first move with Katon: Karyūdan, breathing fire at the brunette, who evaded by ducking under the sand, quickly pulling on the tekko-kagi while she had the opportunity. The purple haired kunoichi summoned a collection of her large blue snakes which slithered into radiative circles around her feet, ready to restrain 'Kuko, should she attempt to pop up anywhere nearby.

"Clever, Anko-chan, but not clever enough," 'Kuko muttered to herself as she felt the vibrations in the sand which betrayed the other girl's plan. The brunette dove to stone, using Ishi Kasui to remove most of the snakes, knowing better than to expect it to do much damage to her opponent.

Anko grabbed onto the tip of a spike as it rose beside her, letting it lift her out of the way of the others which skewered most of her blue snakes. 'Kuko popped up a short distance behind the purple haired girl, gaining height with Doryūha, however instead of sending the earth wave at the other girl, she used it as a medium for Retsudo Tenshin, creating a giant needle which stabbed out to impale her.

Anko swung around her spike, out of the way of the needle and jumped on top of it, running towards 'Kuko. A Doton: Doryūsō forced her 'round the needle to run along the underside instead and she slipped back on top once close enough to send a Sen'eijashu at the brunette.

'Kuko intentionally fell off her perch, ducking under the striking snakes, and stuck herself to the side of the wave about half way down, using another Doryūsō to skewer the sleeve-snakes whilst her claws slashed at the blue binding-snakes below which had survived her Ishi Kasui and were trying to ensnare her. The spiralling fire of Kaen Senpū cascaded down the earth at 'Kuko's precarious position and she hurriedly dodged to the side and created a horizontal wall above her with Doryūheki.

Anko used Katon: Haisekishō to breathe out a cloud of ash-like gunpowder and ignited it with Karyūdan, creating an explosion which destroyed the hastily created wall and carved out a large chunk from the wave. However 'Kuko had already disappeared into the rock, sliding up behind the other girl and washing her off the wall with a well-placed Doryū Taiga , Doryūdan following to keep her dodging, careful direction of the shots drove the purple head along a specific pathway, making it easy for 'Kuko to spit out a Dorosandan on the predicted path, so it would hit her eyes when she got there, leaving the other girl blind. Anko summoned some of her small, brown, poisonous snakes as protection while she cleared her eyes, a small collection of them slithering beneath her feet due to 'Kuko's penchant for sneak attacks from beneath, and one curled around her neck to be her eyes until she could use her own again.

As her opponent's blinding was of limited use due to the snakes, 'Kuko sunk back through stone, into sand, with no qualms about slicing her way through the underground snake defence, but Anko could tell when she did so and stabbed down into the sand, a lucky hit breaking the tekko-kagi on 'Kuko's right hand.

"I really liked these, you know? They weren't easy to come by." The brunette pouted as she rose from the sand a short distance away, pulling off both sets of metal claws.

"Tsume no Seisei no Jutsu." 'Kuko's finger and toe nails grew swiftly into long sharp claws, durability enhanced by chakra. She dashed forward, hand and feet tearing through Anko's small summons and a spinning kick dug the claws for her foot into the purple head's left shoulder, the leg yanked back to remove them in a spray of blood.

A right handed Sen'eijashu was sent in response and all but 1 of the snakes were sliced through with 'Kuko's left claws while the rights dug deep into the other girl's gut. The left claws came to rest at Anko's neck, even as 'Kuko's pure stubbornness fought the poison of that one snake and the pain of a kunai from Anko, driven to the hilt into her, just below the ribs, and Anko surrendered, acknowledging that in a true fight she would be dead already, before the poison could overcome the brunette.

The Iryō-nin dragged the pair away to fix them up, one of them snatching the poison's antidote from Orochimaru-Sensei when he tried to approach and shooing him away before he could get in their way.

It was a couple of days before the pair and 'Nai were permitted to leave the hospital, just in time for the results to be announced. Though, 'Kuko in particular was almost bored to tears by the long-winded speech from the Kazekage before the list of those advancing was read. In alphabetical order. Thus 'Kuko and 'Ku were announced one after the other at the beginning and 'Nai was right at the end, which had 'Kuko fretting for her in the interim, with Anko, as the only other Konoha advancement, somewhere in the middle.

Despite the joy of success, Team Ibiki didn't really celebrate until they got back to Konoha, at which point the whole village probably knew from the size of the party at the Ogawa-Itō house, 'Kuko managed to organise within an hour of their arrival.

*o*o*o*

 **Kumogakure - Village Hidden in the Clouds**

 **Sunagakure - Village Hidden in the Sand**

 **Hi no Kuni - Land of Fire**

 **Kawa no Kuni - Land of Rivers**

 **Kaze no Kuni - Land of Wind**

 **Amegakure - Village Hidden in the Rain**

 **Arashi no Kuni - Land of Storms***

 **Kusagakure - Village Hidden in the Grass**

 **Kouba no Kuni - Land of Plants***

 **Takigakure - Village Hidden in the Waterfall**

 **En no Kuni - Land of Dams***

 **(*These countries are unnamed in canon so I used the names from here (remove spaces) z13. invisionfree Red_Clouds/ar/t124. htm, I also used it for distances)**

 **Iwagakure - Village Hidden in the Rocks**

 **Kirigakure - Village Hidden in the Mist**

 **Ohayo - Good morning**

 **-Bāsama - Honoured Grandmother**

 **-oba - Aunt**

 **Kami-sama - God**

 **Kuso - Damn**

 **Tekko-kagi - A weapon made of, usually, 4 claw-like blades attached to metal ring.**

 **Katana - 1-handed Japanese long sword, only bladed on one side.**

 **Wakizashi - 1-handed Japanese short sword, also only bladed on one side.**

 **Kusarigama - Japanese weapon consisting of a sickle on a metal chain with an iron weight at the other end.**

 **Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu - Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique - changes earth into fine sand by channelling chakra into it, allowing the user to dig through it like a mole.**

 **Kanashibari no Jutsu - Temporary Paralysis Technique - physically restrains target(s) as if bound by steel ropes for a few moments.**

 **Doton: Doryūheki - Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall - user creates a solid wall of earth, either using surroundings or by spitting out Chakra as earth.**

 **Hitei Mushō - Flying Nail Mist Soaring - user exhales a flying stream of very small nails from their mouth.**

 **Sōshūjin - Manipulating Attack Blades - user releases chakra from their hand to hold multiple kunai in suspension in order to fire many from varying directions simultaneously at a single target.**

 **Fūton: Rappūshō - Wind Release: Gale Palm - Compresses wind into a powerful gale.**

 **Kuchiyose no Jutsu - Summoning Technique - uses a blood sacrifice to transport people/animals across long distances instantly, requires a contract to be signed.**

 **Jikan Chien no Jutsu - Time Delay Technique - alters target(s) perception of time so they see things a few seconds after they happen. (Own Creation)**

 **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Shadow Clone Technique - creates corporeal copy(ies) of the user. The user's chakra is evenly distributed amongst all clones and self. User receives experience of clone(s) upon dispersion.**

 **Hikari no Kyūtai - Orbs of Light - creates a barrage of small orbs of light which fire at target, burning them.**

 **Dorosandan - Mudshot - user fires chakra-enhanced mud at target from their mouth.**

 **Genjutsu Kai - Illusionary Technique Dissipation - user disrupts/stops their own chakra flow to break a genjutsu's influence.**

 **Suiton: Teppōdama - Water Release: Gunshot - user spits out condensed chakra in the form of balls of water, with the same speed & power as an actual gunshot.**

 **Magen: Jubaku Satsu - Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death - user disappears in a mist-like fashion to sneak up on target, once close enough target is robbed of mobility as a fast growing tree wraps around them.**

 **Kawarimi no Jutsu - Body Replacement Technique - user exchanges their body with another object, typically the instant an attack lands to create the short optical illusion of a successful attack.**

 **Fūton: Rasen Kazedama - Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball - user breathes wind chakra into their palm, shaping it into a small spherical whirlwind & shooting it at a target.**

 **Shinkirō - Mirage - causes pink leaves to surround the user & envelops the area in pink mist, hiding the user.**

 **Ressenpū - Violent Whirlwind - user produces a powerful stream of wind from their mouth.**

 **Katon: Kaen Senpū - Fire Release: Flame Whirlwind - fire erupts around the user in a spiralling manner & is launched with their hands towards the target.**

 **Jūha Shō - Beast Tearing Palm - user gathers chakra in their hand and swipes a slicing wave of wind chakra which can cut/slash through any material.**

 **Sen'eijashu - Hidden Snake Hands - user ejects poisonous snakes from their wrist/sleeve, usually after a punching motion.**

 **Katon: Benijigumo - Fire Release: Crimson Earth Spider - user spews out fire which surrounds the target(s) and transforms into a spider that attacks them.**

 **Katon: Karyūdan - Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet - user exhales a flame breathe from their mouth.**

 **Fūton: Shinkūha - Wind Release: Vacuum Wave - user takes deep breath and spins while exhaling, compressing the released air into a single blade that covers a substantial area around them.**

 **Fūton: Suiran Reppū - Wind Release: Verdant Mountain Gale - user infuses wind-based chakra into a bladed weapon from a distance and manipulates them.**

 **Jūha Reppū Shō - Beast Tearing Gale Palm - Enhanced version of Jūha Shō, condenses a mass of wind chakra into a massive demonic-like claw extending from user's hand. Can be used to slice/grab/deflect attacks/push etc.**

 **Doton: Doryūha - Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave - user creates & rides a wave of earth that can branch off.**

 **Suna Bunshin - Sand Clone - creates a solid clone from sand.**

 **Shōtei - Palm Bottom - Byakugan & Hyūga specific, quick, precise thrust of user's palm to opponent's body which sends chakra into them for internal damage.**

 **Saganken - Sandstone Fist - user gathers sand into their hand which transforms into very solid & durable sandstone weapons/shield.**

 **Hakke Kūhekishō - Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm - Byakugan & Hyūga specific, two Gentle Fist users, or one with both hands, send a powerful wave of chakra from palm(s) simultaneously with great force.**

 **Doton: Doryūsō - Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears - user condenses stone/mud from ground and shapes it into spikes which protrude from ground to skewer target.**

 **Hyōmengakure no Jutsu - Hiding in Surface Technique - user can phase through their surroundings to quickly evade attack or travel undetected.**

 **Doton: Doryū Taiga - Earth Release: Earth Flow River - transforms ground into a river of mud which can throw opponent off balance & push them away from the user. Is also used as a medium for Doton: Doryūdan.**

 **Doton: Doryūdan - Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet - creates a dragon-like head out of Doton: Doryū Taiga which shoots mud balls at target.**

 **Doton: Ishi Kasui - Earth Release: Stone Spikes - user creates spikes of earth that come up from the ground beneath the enemy in a 6' radius of spikes.**

 **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu - Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique - weak Genjutsu which creates illusionary surroundings that trick target(s) into mistaking one place for another.**

 **Sanzengarasu no Jutsu - Scattering Thousand Crows Technique - summons a flock of countless crows to dazzle enemy, can be manipulated by emitting chakra as high frequency waves from fingertips.**

 **Retsudo Tenshin - Violent Heavenly Earth Needle - user creates a large needle out of Doton: Doryūha to impale target.**

 **Katon: Haisekishō - Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning - user spews a stream of chakra-infused gunpowder from mouth which surrounds a region, lingering like a cloud. Can be used as a smokescreen or is easily ignited.**

 **Tsume no Seisei no Jutsu - Claw Creation Technique - user temporarily enhances the growth of their nails on both hands & feet, causing them to grow significantly in a short space of time. Also enhances nail durability & sharpness.**

 **Hand seals**

 **Saru - Monkey - right hand on top of left - palms to palm-side of fingers - thumbs on top of pinkies.**

 **Tatsu - Dragon - palms facing but separate, fingers interlocked - rights on top of lefts, knuckles facing forwards - pinkies stretched down - palm-sides together - thumbs raised - still curled, left on top of right.**

 **Ne - Rat - left hand pointed up - middle & index fingers pointing straight up, ring and pinkie curled to palm - right hand curled around left middle & index fingers, left thumb on outside of right hand.**

 **Tori - Bird - palms facing but separated, fingers interlocked - rights in front of lefts from own perspective, knuckles facing up - pinkies & indexes stretched up - palm-sides together - thumbs stretched towards self - parallel to ground.**

 **Mi - Snake - palms together, fingers interlocked - lefts in front of rights from own perspective, knuckles facing up.**

 **Ushi - Ox - right hand horizontal, left hand vertical - fingers & thumbs interlocked but straight, except left middle & ring which lie flat on top of right hand, lefts in front of rights from own perspective.**

 **Inu - Dog - left hand flat on top of right fist - parallel to ground.**

 **Uma - Horse - palms apart - parallel to self - fingers interlocked - lefts on top of rights, thumbs curled to base of own hand's index - index finders pointed to touch at tips.**

 **Tora - Tiger - palms together, rings and pinkies interlocked - rights in front of lefts from own perspective, knuckles facing up - indexes and middles flat together - pointed up - thumbs sides together - pointed up.**

 **I - Boar - both hands fists - thumbs curled so nails rest on 1st index joint - knuckles flat together - thumbs knuckles side by side together - finger knuckles facing ground.**

 **Hitsuji - Ram - right hand vertical - pinkie and ring curled to palm, middle, index and thumb pointing straight up - left hand slightly higher, also vertical - pinkie and ring curled over right pinkie and ring, middle and index flat against right's, thumb in front of right from own perspective.**

 **U - Hare - left hand palm facing self - thumb straight up, index straight towards right, other fingers lightly curled - right hand horizontal, palm facing ground - pinkie straight towards left in front of left thumb, pinkie edge of palm flat on top of left index, other fingers lightly curled.**

 **If anyone's confused, I used Japanese alphabetical order, not English.**

 **Don't worry about keeping track of all the random Ocs in this chapter, near enough, if not all of them will not crop up again. Anko's teammates might pop up, but they're not really important, hence why they remain unnamed.**

 **And my apologies for not getting this out last month as I expected but I seriously underestimated the length of & amount of research required for the 3rd exam. I had to look through over 1700 Jutsu, screen out Kekkei Genkai (bloodline limits) and Hiden (Secret Tradition - family specific techniques), then differentiate by type, rank and range, note down what each does, make Japanese names for those without and make lists of what each character is capable of. Literally took a week to do.**

 **Anyways, it's 3:30 in the morning and I have a 9 o'clock lecture later this morning so need sleep, please review and see you next time, though almost certainly not so long a chapter or AN then.**

 **Your seriously-knackered-from-typing-for-the-past-9-hours -straight-even-skipping-dinner-to-get-this-up-in-time-author**

 **Kouseki**


	7. Of Endings and Beginnings

_Chapter 6 - Of Endings and Beginnings_

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." 'Ku quickly channelled chakra into her feet to prevent her from falling off the slim branch she appeared upon. She looked around, viewing her new surroundings with a curious eye, finding herself on the thin tip of a mid-lying branch on a huge, several hundred foot tall, redwood. A few branch levels above, a giant nest was woven around the trunk, with varyingly smaller nests scattered further out and above. Several birds could be seen flying between the nests and away from the tree, most somewhat large and black, though the occasional white one could be glimpsed, as well as a few much larger ones.

A slightly above average sized, white bird descended, alighting on a higher branch with its head tilted curiously to the side, simply staring with hazel eyes which had a thin ring of pale blue circling the pupil. A few minutes passed with the pair observing each other without words or movement, before a little, black bird descended and perched itself at 'Ku's head-height, the closer view making it apparent that the birds were ravens.

"Greetings, young, prospective summoner, and welcome to Ikusamesu. The Elder wished to speak with you." 'Ku nodded and ran up the trunk of the giant tree, following the small raven as it flew to the central nest. The white raven followed at a leisurely pace, keeping level with the girl as the rose. The sight that greeted 'Ku on her reaching the top side of the nest was of several groups of large ravens, presumably family groups going by the fluffy appearance of fledglings within each group. The white raven that had first approached 'Ku glided over to the sole group of white birds in the nest and got pounced on by the pair of fledglings there, much to the amusement of the others in the group.

'Ku turned from the sight with a small smile playing across her lips and jogged after her small guide to the shelter at the centre of the nest. The little bird landed on her shoulder as she entered and she paused, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light within. A huge white raven sat at the far end of the room, its beak sitting at twice 'Ku's own height of five foot one. It opened one white eye to peer at the first human to arrive in their midst in some time, and chuckled to see the small, black raven on her shoulder neatening the girl's hair from the rather haphazard ponytail it had been pulled into.

"Enough, Saya. You can mother the girl later if she stays." The low, rumbling words of the Elder caused the small raven to huff as she took to the air so the pair could speak privately.

"So, fledgling, you wish for the summon contract of the ravens? I expect you knew not which summon you would find when you used your jutsu, but for what purpose did you seek a contract at all?" The other eye opened and 'Ku felt the full weight of the Elder's piercing stare as he judged her.

"I sought an ally I could trust in battle, no matter what may happen in the future, and a friend I could rely on for I have few that I may call such. I know how some others likely regard summons, but I have no need for a tool to do my work for me, nor a flock of shields to die in my place." A blink broke the heavy feeling of that stare as the raven nodded.

"A good answer, fledgling, however your strength must be evaluated, as well as your eye for strategy. We have been called by weak or incompetent summoners before and I shall not permit such a waste of life while I remain Elder." The male stood and slowly walked out of the shelter, 'Ku exiting in front and shifting to the side to allow him past while she stopped to adjust to the light once more. The sun took that moment to break through the cloud cover, turning the black plumage of most ravens into a beautiful shine of iridescent blues, greens and purples, even the white ravens' feathers gained a blueish sheen, though not to same degree. With the sharp gesture of his beak, the elder summoned a large black raven, it's wingspan about fifty foot, towards them before he spoke again.

"This is Kiyoshi, he shall assess your strength and strategy, though if you would please use only Taijutsu, there is no reason to destroy the nest after all." The white girl then flew to a higher branch to observe, showing an impressive sixty five foot wingspan, while the family groups quickly shuffled their fledglings to the other side of the nest to reduce the possibility of them getting caught up in the fight.

The raven made the first move, rising on silent wings and diving after the human, talons slashing towards her but she dodged easily, sending a kunai flying after the huge bird. An easy tilt of the wings shifted him away from the weapon, leaving it to embed itself in a branch. He dove again, increasing his speed with each attack to see the extend of hers, but even at full speed he was unable to catch her, so the next kunai flung his way was caught instead of avoided and tossed back through a backwards loop, a forceful flap of wings giving it the speed needed to reach the girl before she could fully dodge, leaving a reasonably deep slash on her left arm.

'Ku smirked and chose her tactic, as she dodged the next attack, she grabbed the leg that was closest and pulled herself up to stand on the large taloned foot. She danced between and around both feet when their owner's beak tried to reach her even while the raven took sharp turns and lopped through the air to try and dislodge his unintended passenger.

With the next peck, 'Ku let another kunai fly, aiming for the bird's eye, but his quick reactions left only a scratch. Though his irritation was enough to aim himself towards a nearby branch to try and knock the annoying girl off his feet. While the idea did work in that respect, 'Ku used the opportunity to hop off his feet and bounced onto his back instead, a little push of chakra giving her the force needed to get there, though Kiyoshi was decidedly unimpressed at the tugging on his feathers. Even more so when a kunai was held threateningly in front of a dark brown eye and no fancy aerial manoeuvring would even make it waver. A sharp cry from the Elder signalled the end of the spar, so 'Ku stowed her kunai and hopped to the nearest branch in order to run back down to the nest.

"Your strength and strategy are impressive for your youth, however there is one more thing we must test. In times past we have worked with summoners who refused to trust us, thus we could not help them as we should have and as they refused to rely on us it lead to their early deaths and the deaths of our brethren. You must be able to trust us if we are to put our trust in you." The Elder descended from his perch to stand at the edge of the nest. 'Ku followed and, at his indication, moved up beside him, staring over the edge down the clear path through the branches to the ground. A different large, black raven perched on a branch that sat along the opposite edge of the gap.

"Jump, little fledgling, and trust. Mitsue will catch you before you hit the ground, but it is a long way and you must trust he will do so." 'Ku turned to look at the Elder, and saw his words were true, not an attempt to test her foolishness. She took a deep breath as she nodded, and did as instructed, watching as Mitsue dove with her. The girl kept a tight rein on the panic that sought to escape and held to her belief in the Elder's words, instead letting the side of her that gave her an affinity to wind loose to enjoy the freeing feeling of the air rushing past with no restricting anchor to the ground.

At about fifty feet from the ground, a large taloned foot closed gently around 'Ku's middle, gradually slowing her to stationary, just as her foot touched the ground, before she began to ascend, carried back to the nest on swift wings. The girl was gently deposited beside the Elder with a smile on her face, highly tempted to jump again.

"I presume you have wind affinity then." The Elder's rumbling voice broke through 'Ku's thoughts and she tilted her head in question.

"Shinobi have fallen from a raven's back in battle before, but only those with an affinity for wind have been smiling in such a manner, as if wanting to do it again." 'Ku laughed as she nodded in agreement to the first statement. She got to her feet and dragged herself away from the edge of the nest before she did jump again. The Elder held a taloned foot before her head and dropped a large scroll into her hands.

"Write your name and leave an imprint of all five fingerprints of one hand, in blood. You will then be able to summon us, dependent on the chakra input. Though expect retribution if you summon a fledgling into battle, even accidentally." The girl nodded and bit hard into her thumb, pressing her index finger into the welling blood as necessary while she wrote. With business concluded the Elder took the scroll back and returned to his shelter, leaving ''Ku, sat on the nest's floor, with his name, Satoimu, and the instruction to seek out any adult to send her home when she wanted to leave.

With her acceptance among the ravens, the groups all returned to their former spots, seemingly unconcerned as their fledglings wandered over to examine the newcomer, the with the sharp eyes of a shinobi, 'Ku easily picked out the mothers who kept a sharp watch over them even as they interacted with the rest of their groups. The white raven from before also approached, though her own inquisitive nature was hidden under the guise of watching over the fluffy white chicks which had ambled over. It only took a minute for the fluffy group to decide they'd seen enough and it was time to greet this older newcomer as they did any other older bird. By burying them under a fluffy heap. Poor 'Ku was unprepared for the sudden attack by the fledglings and soon fell under their joint might, becoming the new baby roost as they settled on any place they could find. She ended up with two on each shoulder, four per lower arm, which were supported into horizontal positions by a pair of fluffy heap underneath them made of about ten each, another ten squeezed together on her lap and the pair of white ones with a tiny black one nesting atop her head. 'Ku glared at the watching, white raven.

"Yeah, laugh it up, I'll send them after you when I leave." The raven simply closed her eyes as she continued to convey amusement, even without lips to grin with.

The little black Saya, was the first to drag her protesting chick away from the human, extracting her tiny fluff ball from the white sandwich she'd found herself in. Gradually each fledgling was returned to its family and 'Ku flopped back, her muscles aching from holding the same position for the past couple of hours. The extent of her reaction when the white raven approached was to turn her head to face it, though she made a mental note to pay attention to the ravens more in the future to find an easy way to distinguish gender, it was impolite to think of them as 'it's after all.

"You're a strange one, summoner." 'Ku 'hmm'ed questioningly with a raised eyebrow as the raven spoke for the first time that she'd seen, the quiet melodious voice indicating that she was female.

"You appear silent and cold, as if rejecting the world around you, yet are content to be a perch for fledglings with a patience even their mother's likely wouldn't possess. Are you the same with your own kinds' young?" 'Ku couldn't help the snigger that escaped at that thought.

"Not really. The fledglings are cute and not that noisy compared to human children, who I have little patience for. Anyway, I'm Ogawa Miku, though you can call me Miku or 'Ku, what's your name?"

"Hakutsume, though 'Tsume will be satisfactory." The pair sat together and talked, getting to know each other quite well before it got late enough that 'Ku needed to head home, with the promise to summon 'Tsume the next day.

*o*o*o*

"'Ku-chan, 'Ku-chan, how'd it go?" 'Kuko excitedly glomped her best friend even before the smoke of her return had dissipated. 'Ku sighed and returned the hug, knowing from long experience that not doing so would only make her hold on longer.

"It went well, I now have a contract with the ravens. I'll show you tomorrow before you see what you'll get. For now I need food and sleep." 'Kuko dragged her friend from the garden to the kitchen, shoving her in a seat and presenting dinner which she'd been bored enough to make herself while waiting for 'Ku to return.

*o*o*o*

After breakfast, 'Ku summoned Hakutsume, which left 'Kuko babbling over how awesome it was and soon vanishing in her own puff of smoke to see what summon she would get. 'Tsume blinked at the strange brunette's actions and turned to her summoner, silently asking if that really was her best friend, given the vast difference in personality. 'Ku nodded and held out an arm for the raven to perch on as they went to see Ibiki-sensei and 'Nai before viewing the village, it had been a long time since any raven had been summoned to Konoha after all.

*o*o*o*

'Kuko appeared with a splash, ankle deep in water at the edge of a large island that sat within a lake. A trio of fox kits skidded to a halt where they'd been playing and stared as the girl splashed her way to dry land and sat upon a rock, removing her sodden shoes to leave them in the sun to dry. The inquisitive creatures slowly edged their way closer, freezing whenever the girl looked their way, as if playing Grandmother's footsteps. 'Kuko pretended to ignore them, letting them approach and investigate as to whether she was friend or foe. Though that only lasted until one decided to steal her shoe, at which point an epic game of chase began, the girl hunting for the little thief while its friends tried to interfere by continuously running around her legs in an attempt to trip her up.

She eventually caught the kit, taking the opportunity to snuggle the little fuzball while she nabbed her shoe back, which left the fox glaring while its friends were laughing at its misfortune, the two a noticeable distance away to prevent the strange human from assaulting them as well.

'Kuko froze at the sound of a much deeper chuckle which announced the presence of a full grown, russet fox as he emerged from the nearby bushes. The kit used her inattention as an opportunity to wriggle free and flee from the human and her strange snuggle attacks. 'Kuko gave the newcomer her best innocent look - which was pretty damn good after nearly eight years of escaping suspicion of committing pranks - as if she hadn't just been caught in a most unprofessional situation. The fox just nudged her forward and slipped in front to act as a guide to the Den, trotting on at a leisurely pace, showing no real hurry to get there.

"You arrived at a good time, young summoner," The fox chuckled again when 'Kuko jumped at his sudden words.

"The older kits have their coming of age test today and that shall be your test as well, for if you are not capable of becoming an adult to our eyes, you have no right to summon us." 'Kuko nodded in acknowledgement when she saw the fox's golden eyes focused on her.

"Do I get any hints on what to expect, or is it a secret?" She inquired as her guide showed no signs of saying anything on his own, however the persisting silence was answer enough and left her grumbling,

"Trust me to end up with the one even less talkative than 'Ku-chan with a newcomer…" A nudge sent 'Kuko stumbling towards a group of older kits, nearing full grown but still gangly enough to be differentiated. With a glare that showed the fox exactly what she thought of him right then, 'Kuko wandered over and deposited herself next to a young, white fox with black ears and black speckles spattered across its feet, ranting about annoying old foxes that see themselves as too good to talk. The white fox nuzzled her shoulder in sympathy while several other 'teenagers' shifted closer to join in the impromptu ranting session.

"Alright then kiddies, up you get else you wait 'til next month." In seconds all eleven young foxes were lined up to start their test with 'Kuko, somewhat awkwardly, stood at one end.

"The course you must follow for the first part of the test is marked by red fur, you have fifteen minutes to follow it back here. Any logs that are higher than your head - waist for the human - you must go over, any lower than that must be ducked under, you must cross any rivers without getting wet, you must also avoid the Suiton Jutsu that various adults will throw at you. Once back here, you must find the scratched branch on that tree and sit upon it until I acknowledge your presence. You are all forbidden from using any chakra during this part of the test. Begin." The black vixen which had dictated the rules stepped to the side and the group surged forward, a particularly energetic, red furred fox easily taking the lead with 'Kuko just behind. The girl had a slight advantage on the high logs, being able to simply vault over them, where the foxes had to scramble up surrounding trees to find a way over, however this was countered by their ease at sliding under the lowest logs where 'Kuko's longer body was a hindrance especially as it just didn't bend back as easily. The red fox and 'Kuko swiftly pulled ahead of the others, the girl barely paying attention to the trail as she tried to keep up. Fortunately her competition kept to the right path, not falling prey to the false trails of brown fur which led a couple of others astray. The lack of chakra led to 'Kuko playing stepping stones to cross a river, barely avoiding the Suiton fired at her as she hopped from stone to stone, the other river sent her into the treetops to run across the shading branches instead with its lack of convenient rocks or bridge.

It was after eleven minutes and thirteen seconds that the red fox reached the marked branch, balancing somewhat precariously on the thin piece of wood, claws dug deep for support. Twenty seven seconds later 'Kuko joined her, huddling close to the trunk for the widest part to balance on, holding on to the branch above for as much stability as she could find. They were acknowledged half a minute later and dropped to the ground just before the next runner arrived, robbing him of an easy way to find the branch.

'Kuko flopped onto her back, quite content to take advantage of the bright sun shining over the foxes' home. Though she could probably have done without the large, red, fuzzy lump which dug its paws into her kidneys as it curled up on her chest like an overgrown housecat.

Once the time ran out, there were four other foxes that passed, three with the typical russet fur with white chest and tail tip and black ears and one brown with black chest, ears, socks and tail. The six were then sent on to the second half of their test, to track down and slay the pair of golden eagles which had decided to nest on the island and had no qualms with snatching fox kits if they came across one or two unguarded.

The foxes, having better noses, were delegated to tracking duty while 'Kuko would be in charge of finding a way to ground the birds once found as she was the only one with any ranged capability.

The plan they eventually implemented was to have one fox pretend to be injured - a couple of shallow slices providing the scent and sight of blood to make it more believable - and when the eagles tried to nab him, 'Kuko would catch them with either a net or a makeshift bolas constructed from steel wire and kunai. In practice the net was fat too slow and ended in failure. The bolas were much more effective though, trapping the birds' wings to their bodies so they fell heavily to the ground to be easily finished off by sharp teeth and claws.

The success gave 'Kuko the right to sign the summon contract, and signalled nap time, which left 'Kuko snoozing under a big puppy pile of the five foxes who had passed their coming of age. She ended up being firm friends with the brown, Masaru who tended to be quiet but showed a fierce intelligence, both of which reminded her of her best friend, though the fox was a lot easier to get on with from the offset rather than needing a long time to befriend, as well as the russet, Akane, who had beaten her on the obstacle course. The vixen, likely due to sharing 'Kuko's belief in frequent short naps whenever the opportunity presents itself, managed to be just as energetic as the human and the pair bonded over driving everyone around them nuts with their hyperactivity.

However, there was one duty that remained before 'Kuko could allow herself to leave. She could not abandon a fresh target pool without at least one successful prank- i.e. a prank which gets its target but prankster remains uncaught either through use of scapegoat or simply no traces to follow. The target was to be the annoying, too quiet fox that had been her guide. Due to lack of supplies, thus the return to an old favourite, sticky sap and feathers. Preparations were quick, execution perfect and, without even trying, a scapegoat - or scapefox - was assigned by reputation as a prankster.

A young, grey fox, with white face, chest, socks, and tail tip, streaked past, a sap and feathered red adult on his heels, trying to escape retribution for a prank he, for a change, _didn't_ commit. The young male pressed himself into the back of 'Kuko's legs just as she was sent back to Konoha, giving the girl an unintended passenger. The whole village gained a strange sense of foreboding when they arrived, unknowingly anticipating the hell the pair could cause if let loose to prank freely. Fortunately for the general populace, the fox, Shin, made a fatal error with his first targets.

'Kuko and her unintended shadow headed to her team's usual training ground, where 'Ku and Hakutsume were developing their team strategies against Ibiki-sensei. The brunette approached when they were taking a break, 'Tsume and 'Nai perched in a tree while 'Ku spoke with 'Biki-sensei, and Shin chose the tree perched pair as the better targets for depositing a bucket of water over their heads. Very muddy water. Needless to say, neither were very impressed. The white raven grabbed the errant fox by his bushy tail and dragged him skyward, towards the Hokage Monument, where she perched upon the Sandaime's nose, grey tail still trapped beneath her talons, its body dangling unceremoniously from the stone nose. After years of practice in the art of ignoring complaints, honed steadily through interactions with various generations of fuzzy chicks, Hakutsume gazed across the village from her vantage point, paying no heed to the continuous curses spewing forth from her captive. Eventually the fox calmed and started muttering apologies interspersed with pleas to be put down because everything was going blurry. After a few minutes enjoying his suffering, Tsume released the tail, allowing Shin to fall, and caught him just before he hit the ground, to prevent him from splatting, to deposit him into the hands of 'Nai so she could have her own revenge. A few hints from 'Kuko gave her a remarkably accurate illusion of the grey fox's mother whose lecturing and glares left the 'teenager' cowering and swearing never to prank again.

*o*o*o*

The months passed with a continuing population boom which had been kick-started with the end of the war a year before, though by October it had slowed somewhat back to the usual peace-time increase. Lasting peace, however, seemed to be too much to ask for.

Team Ibiki, minus their sensei who had some paperwork to do(/demons to destroy), were taking a break from their training when the first tremors rattled through them, a tell-tale sign of a large-scale battle nearby, as was the rising cloud of dust they could just make out through the night's darkness, on the far side of the village. 'Ku quickly summoned 'Tsume to scout ahead before the trio headed towards the disturbance.

"There's a giant, nine-tailed fox on a rampage over there, no one can really get close enough to do much to it though. There's a group of shinobi gathering in the woods to the south, you should probably head there to be of most use." With 'Ku's thanks the white raven returned home and the kunoichi turned south, dashing across rooftops with as much speed as they could muster, in part to avoid sliding off as roof tiles were shaken free and fell to the streets by the force of the tremors that rocked the whole village. They deviated from their course a few times to knock falling debris away from fleeing civilians, guiding them to larger groups that were headed for the shelters within the cliff which the Hokage Monument was carved from.

The three eventually found their way to the gathering of young shinobi, 'Nai looked curiously at her father who stood in front of them but made no comment, knowing that he would only speak when all were present, a state which took a few minutes to arrive as various individuals and groups approached from all sides of the village, though besides 'Nai's father, the two by his side and one perched up a tree with a seal, none were older than fifteen.

*"Listen up, your generation is to stay away from the Kyūbi." 'Nai's father finally spoke, though is words were not what anyone expected to hear.

"What do you mean?" 'Nai found it easiest to question him, seeing the man as her father first and superior second.

"This is not a war between villages. It is our own calamity. You have no need to risk your lives for this."

"You can't tell us what to do!" 'Nai bristled with the righteous indignation that permeated most there, though 'Ku held her and 'Kuko back, preventing them from ignoring the command and rushing off to battle anyway.

"You are all shinobi, like me. We do not normally live long lives. But you, as my daughter, must pass on the Will of Fire to my Grandchild! At least promise your father that. I have faith in you." The young shinobi reluctantly settled down, resigned to their fates of being barred from the battle and the three adults at the front vanished in a swirl of leaves, the fourth remaining perched with his seal activated to prevent any attempts of the youngsters' to leave.

The more restless individuals paced relentlessly, the most eye-catching of these being Hatake Kakashi, the only one among them who was already a Jōnin. 'Ku and 'Kuko sat either side of their teammate, offering silent support to the only one of them that had parents to worry about, both of whom would be fighting for their home.

None of them slept that night, worry forbidding it until grief took over to do the same. Few families were left untouched by the cold grasp of death, many friends were forced to live together until their own homes were repaired and those lucky few who escaped such pain still grieved for the loss of the Fourth Hokage.

With half their house half rubble, 'Nai and her father were welcomed into 'Ku and 'Kuko's home, it standing relatively unscathed at the edge of the village, though were left largely in peace as they grieved the loss of her mother, just as the pair of girls mourned Morikawa-san who had helped them so much over the years. For the next couple of weeks, any shinobi, Chūnin or below, were delegated to rebuilding duty for anything that didn't require specialist jobs, most of them almost thankful for the boring duty which allowed them time to grieve and move on, when rarely do they get such an opportunity.

Nevertheless, 'Ku and 'Kuko were glad to take a mission outside the village, thereby escaping the depressing gloom that had shrouded it. Though, perhaps, escorting a merchant to Suna and back was taking that sentiment a bit far. At least the merchant didn't look down on them for their youth or gender, else it would have made the long trip nearly unbearable.

'Kuko walked next to the merchant's cart, eyes forward and ready to react to anything that may target him, also fulfilling his need to have someone to talk to on the six day trip, while 'Ku perched on the roof of the cart, keeping watch over the flanks and rear while frequently checking for any nearby, notable chakra sources.

Besides the interruption by a foolish group of bandits, the journey was peaceful, thankfully undisturbed by sandstorms. It wasn't long after arrival that 'Ku was pounced on by the, now three year-old, Temari, who complained that no one else would give her piggy-backs at an acceptable speed. 'Kuko wavered her friend off with a grin, the village's security good enough that they could take turns on guard duty. The most nerve-wracking part of being the girl's favourite person, however temporary that status, was the time the child dragged her along to dinner… With the Kazekage and her brother, Kankuro. It took all of 'Ku's will not to fidget under the Kazekage's intimidating stare as he silently assessed her. When he turned his gaze elsewhere without protesting her presence, 'Ku finally took a seat next to Temari - read, was pulled into said seat by said child - and the meal passed peacefully with the two children eagerly talking about their day while the older pair listened with appropriate comments where necessary, and 'Ku was eventually persuaded by a certain blonde child to recount the tale of acquiring her summon contract, which then led to promising to introduce her to Hakutsume tomorrow. Once able to escape, 'Ku fled back to her and 'Kuko's room to collapse into bed.

"Never again. 'Kuko-chan, if you are ever invited to dinner with Kazekage-sama, use whatever excuse you must to refuse, that was the most uncomfortable meal of my life." The ravenette glared when her friend had the audacity to laugh at her misfortune.

"Keep laughing and I'll let slip to your gossip-buddies about that time you got caught in your own sap and feather trap." Glare turned to evil grin when the laughter abruptly cut off and 'Kuko shuddered, deciding that bed was a much better plan than continuing to antagonise her friend as she knew the threat was no bluff.

'Ku took the morning shift, leaving 'Kuko to her gossip gathering and she watched as various herbalists and doctors gathered to buy the medicinal plants, the dwindling of the supply indicated that they'd be leaving tomorrow and their client confirmed this when 'Kuko arrived for lunch and duty swap.

Fortunately for Hakutsume, she wasn't big enough for Temari to ride, else she would have been hard pressed to avoid allowing such, though from the size of the adults from her family group, it likely wouldn't be long 'til she was. Instead the white raven flew at 'Ku's head-height with the ravenette chasing her, the blonde child on her shoulders, attempting to catch the bird when close enough. Temari was upset when told her 'mount' would be leaving the next day and tried to demand she stay or, when that failed, to visit again soon. 'Ku managed to expertly dance around that request, leaving the child believing she'd be back soon without actually promising such.

The trip home was even less eventful than the trip there but the two and a half weeks away had allowed the gloom over the village to lift somewhat and life had returned to normal, or at least what was considered normal for a Hidden Shinobi Village.

*o*o*o*

 ***speech here is take from episode 249 of Shippuden and whatever the fansubs told me.**

 **Bolas - a throwing weapon made from weights on the end of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs.**

 **Apologies for the lateness, Uni is doing the annoying, pile-everything-upon-the-students-at-the-end-of-term-right-before-exams thing it did last year, so I've been slightly swamped without the time to type this up despite having written it in time.**

 **Anyways please review, I give cookies to whoever does.**

 **Your-overworked-and-somewhat-knackered-but-still-heading-off-to-Costa-to-write-more-fanfiction-coursework-be-damned Author**

 **Kouseki**


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